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u s department of justice
New Motion Presents Most Detailed Case Yet Against Trump for Insurrection Crimes
"The desperate plan that Trump embarked on to try and overturn the results of a legitimate election was reprehensible, irresponsible, and—the document shows—criminal," said one consumer advocate.
Oct 02, 2024
Jack Smith, the special counsel probing former U.S. President Donald Trump's attempt to subvert the 2020 presidential contest, on Wednesday presented a massive trove of fresh evidence supporting his election interference case against the 2024 Republican nominee.
Smith's sprawling and highly anticipated 165-page motion—which was partly unsealed Wednesday by presiding U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan—states that Trump "asserts that he is immune from prosecution for his criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election because, he claims, it entailed official conduct. Not so."
Trump—who in August 2023 was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights—contends that his actions were taken in his official capacity as president and not as a private individual.
In July, the U.S. Supreme Court's right-wing justices—including three Trump appointees—ruled that the ex-president is entitled to "absolute immunity" for "official acts" taken while he was in office, raising questions about the future of this case. According to Smith's motion:
Although the defendant was the incumbent president during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally a private one. Working with a team of private co-conspirators, the defendant acted as a candidate when he pursued multiple criminal means to disrupt, through fraud and deceit, the government function by which votes are collected and counted—a function in which the defendant, as president, had no official role.
In Trump v. United States... the Supreme Court held that presidents are immune from prosecution for certain official conduct—including the defendant's use of the Justice Department in furtherance of his scheme, as was alleged in the original indictment—and remanded to this court to determine whether the remaining allegations against the defendant are immunized.
The answer to that question is no. This motion provides a comprehensive account of the defendant's private criminal conduct; sets forth the legal framework created by Trump for resolving immunity claims; applies that framework to establish that none of the defendant's charged conduct is immunized because it either was unofficial or any presumptive immunity is rebutted; and requests the relief the government seeks, which is, at bottom, this: that the court determine that the defendant must stand trial for his private crimes as would any other citizen.
Smith's filing details what Trump told various people in his inner circle, including then-Vice President Mike Pence, his now-disgraced and twice-disbarred lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and leading White House and Republican Party figures—some of whose names remain undisclosed.
The motion also highlights Trump's actions on January 6, 2021, when his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's Electoral College victory. Trump is still pushing his "Big Lie" that Democrats stole the 2020 election; his running mate, U.S. Sen. J D Vance (R-Ohio), on Tuesday
refused to acknowledge that Trump lost to Biden when he was asked about the election during a vice presidential debate against Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
"Upon receiving a phone call alerting him that Pence had been taken to a secure location, [PERSON 15] rushed to the dining room to inform [Trump] in hopes that the defendant would take action to ensure Pence's safety," the filing states. "Instead, after [P15] delivered the news, the defendant looked at him and said only, 'So what?'"
Smith argued that deceit was central to Trump's efforts, specifically, "the defendant's and co-conspirators' knowingly false claims of election fraud," which they used to purvey the Big Lie.
The motion states:
When the defendant lost the 2020 presidential election, he resorted to crimes to try to stay in office. With private co-conspirators, the defendant launched a series of increasingly desperate plans to overturn the legitimate election results in seven states that he had lost—Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin (the "targeted states"). His efforts included lying to state officials in order to induce them to ignore true vote counts; manufacturing fraudulent electoral votes in the targeted states; attempting to enlist Pence, in his role as president of the Senate, to obstruct Congress' certification of the election by using the defendant's fraudulent electoral votes; and when all else had failed, on January 6, 2021, directing an angry crowd of supporters to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification.
For a historic second time, Trump was
impeached by the House of Representatives following his effort to subvert the election, although he was subsequently acquitted by the Senate.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung
blasted Smith's motion as "unconstitutional" and "falsehood-ridden."
"Deranged Jack Smith and Washington D.C. Radical Democrats are hell-bent on weaponizing the Justice Department in an attempt to cling to power," Cheung said in a statement aping Trump's habit of overcapitalizing words. "President Trump is dominating, and the Radical Democrats throughout the Deep State are freaking out. This entire case is a partisan, Unconstitutional Witch Hunt that should be dismissed entirely, together with ALL of the remaining Democrat hoaxes."
Democracy defenders, however, welcomed Smith's ruling.
"Jack Smith has shown us yet again the merits of his case against former President Trump," said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen and co-chair of the Not Above the Law Coalition.
"In his filing, Smith clarifies that the alleged criminal actions occurred while Trump was acting as a private citizen," Gilbert added. "The desperate plan that Trump embarked on to try and overturn the results of a legitimate election was reprehensible, irresponsible, and—the document shows—criminal. Accountability to the American people and our democracy is our only path forward."
Judge Chutkan unsealed the motion five weeks before Trump will face off against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in a tight presidential election. If he wins, Trump will have the power to order the Department of Justice to drop the criminal charges against him.
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Sanders Urges DOJ Probe Into Israeli Killing of American Activist Ayşenur Eygi
"The U.S. cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the illegal actions of the extremist Israeli government," the senator said.
Sep 13, 2024
Days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken signaled that there would be no U.S. inquiry into Israel's killing of Turkish American activist Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi in the occupied West Bank last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Friday called on the Department of Justice to open an investigation of the young campaigner's death.
Eygi, a 26-year-old activist with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and recent graduate from the University of Washington, was shot in the head, allegedly by an IDF sniper, during a September 6 demonstration in Beita against Israel's illegal apartheid settlements. Eyewitnesses said Israeli forces killed Eygi with "a deliberate shot to the head."
"There will be no accountability if the United States defers to the extremist Israeli government to investigate its own actions."
Sanders noted that both U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, both called for "full accountability" for Eygi's killers.
"Let's be clear: There will be no accountability if the United States defers to the extremist Israeli government to investigate its own actions," he said in a statement.
Sanders continued:
There was no accountability when 17-year-old Tawfic Abdel Jabbar, an American citizen from Louisiana, was shot and killed in January. He was a senior in high school.
There was no accountability when another 17-year-old American, Mohammad Khdour from Florida, was shot and killed in February.
There was no accountability when Dylan Collins, an American journalist for Agence France-Presse, was targeted by Israeli tank fire in October. Six journalists were wounded in the attack, which killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah. The group was clearly marked as press.
There was no accountability when American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot in the head by the Israeli military in May 2022. She was also clearly marked as press.
And there was no accountability when another American, 78-year-old Omar Assad, died after being bound and gagged by Israeli security forces.
"None of these Americans were armed," Sanders stressed. "None of them posed a threat."
Sanders also mentioned the hundreds of Palestinians—including more than 140 children—who have been killed by Israeli occupation forces and settler colonists in the West Bank since October.
"There has been no accountability for repeated Israeli settler attacks, enabled by security forces, on Palestinian towns and villages," he said. "No meaningful response to the burning of Palestinian homes and businesses."
"This is a clear pattern," Sanders contended. "These are not mistakes. This is policy: Shoot first, ask no questions later."
"These are not mistakes. This is policy: Shoot first, ask no questions later."
"By continuing to credulously accept the explanations of an extremist Israeli government whose stated goal is to annex the West Bank and push Palestinians off their land, the United States makes a mockery of its values and abdicates its responsibility to investigate and respond to attacks on its citizens," the senator said.
"The U.S. Justice Department must open its own, independent investigations into these attacks on American citizens by the Israeli security forces," he asserted. "The FBI should immediately collect testimony and forensic evidence. And President Biden must act to bring real pressure to bear to change Israeli policy."
"The United States cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the illegal actions of the extremist Israeli government," Sanders added. "We cannot allow American citizens and innocent Palestinians to be killed with impunity. We must act."
Sanders' admonition came a day after a trio of Democratic U.S. lawmakers from Washington state—Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Pramila Jayapal—demanded the Biden administration investigate Eygi's death.
The parents of Rachel Corrie—a 23-year-old American ISM activist who was crushed to death by a U.S.-supplied bulldozer while trying to prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes in 2003—this week also called for an independent investigation into Eygi's killing.
While admitting that it is "highly likely" that Israeli troops killed Eygi, IDF officials called the killing "unintentional," claiming the fatal shot "was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of... a violent riot in which dozens of Palestinian suspects burned tires and hurled rocks" at occupation forces.
Biden came under fire for repeating Israel's claim, with observers noting that time and again, journalistic and other investigations have concluded that Israeli forces deliberately targeted their victims.
In stark contrast to the U.S. response to Eygi's killing, Turkey—of which she was also a citizen—said it would seek international arrest warrants for whoever shot her.
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is trying to obtain arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and a trio of Hamas leaders—at least one of whom has been assassinated.
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DOJ Files Rent-Fixing Lawsuit Against Corporate Landlords' Go-To Software Firm
"Today is a good day for renters and families and a bad day for predatory landlords," said one advocate.
Aug 23, 2024
Executives at the property management software company RealPage claimed they had the "greater good" in mind when they offered corporate landlords a price-fixing algorithm service, said the U.S. Department of Justice as it filed a lawsuit Friday against the firm—but the scheme allegedly drove rental costs up in communities across the country, contributing to the housing crisis.
The antitrust lawsuit, filed with attorneys general from states including California and Colorado, accused RealPage of using confidential data about its clients to algorithmically determine the highest price renters would pay, using its AI software.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and other officials said the company has violated antitrust laws by providing the service, which gives corporate landlords recommended rental prices and allows them to align prices with one another instead of having to compete.
Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said the lawsuit is "best understood in the words of RealPage's own executives," who have said the company's software allows landlords to "drive every possible opportunity to increase price, even in the most downward trending or unexpected conditions."
"RealPage tells landlords that it would prefer everybody succeeding versus essentially trying to compete against one another," said Kanter. "But that's not how free markets work. Competition among landlords, not RealPage, should determine prices for renters."
Garland added that "Americans should not have to pay more in rent because a company has found a new way to scheme with landlords to break the law."
As Common Dreams reported in June, RealPage and the corporate landlords that rely on it has come under the scrutiny of watchdogs including Accountable.US, which found that the six largest property management firms brought in a combined $300 million in increased profits in the first quarter of 2024, thanks largely to rent hikes.
The windfall came as rent prices have skyrocketed by more than 31% since 2019, while wages have gone up by just 23%.
RealPage's algorithm is alleged to have helped fix rent prices for about 16 million rental units across the country, said Accountable.US.
"Today is a good day for renters and families and a bad day for predatory landlords," said Lindsay Owens, executive director of the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative. "The Department of Justice is right to take on the affordability crisis that RealPage has been supercharging. Algorithms are being used to unfairly drive up prices for housing, meat, and more. This price-fixing must be stopped."
Caroline Ciccone, president of Accountable.US, said Friday's lawsuit shows that "the Justice Department sees evidence of a major rental price-fixing conspiracy by RealPage that extends to metro areas around the country."
"We've documented how many of the same landlord companies that were sued in the initial rent fixing lawsuit have boasted of massive profits after jacking up rents," said Ciccone. "Any property company that uses RealPage in one of these states should face a serious probe. No renter in America should be price gouged under a potentially illegal rent fixing scheme."
Accountable.US added in a social media post that "while rents soared, RealPage executives bragged about how their software could 'maximize' profits, even in the face of a housing crisis."
Andrea Beaty, research director for the Revolving Door Project, said RealPage's actions have "left tenants across the country paying the literal price of corporate greed, even in the midst of a global pandemic."
"This lawsuit will hopefully usher forth renewed corporate accountability in the rental market beyond RealPage, which is far from the only corporation capitalizing on tenant's struggles to live in safe and affordable homes," said Beaty. "We hope that in addition to the bipartisan set of eight state attorneys general suing RealPage, even more attorneys general will sign on in response to RealPage's actions to drive up rental costs in communities in their states."
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