Pam Bondi’s Four Political Prosecutions
Alina Habba announced the indictment of LaMonica McIver at 6:56PM on Tuesday night, an hour before polls in the New Jersey gubernatorial primary — in which Ras Baraka, referred to as Individual 1 in the indictment, ended up being the second-highest vote-getter — closed. The timing was dictated by a hearing scheduled for the next day, not the primary, but after being admonished by Magistrate Judge André Espionsa, it was an inappropriate rush to announce her trophy before polls closed, particularly since it took almost a day to get the indictment docketed.
There was a lot of shitty reporting based on Habba’s press release about the arrest.
I’ll unpack the indictment (which adds a misdemeanor instance of the two felony charges, 18 USC 111, that were announced in the complaint). The story Alina Habba tells about Baraka keeps changing, and that’s before you consider the parts of the story she doesn’t tell (and undoubtedly didn’t tell the grand jury that indicted the case).
But first I want to lay out elements of a pattern.
This is the fourth instance where Pam Bondi’s DOJ has charged a Democrat who did not meekly collude in DHS’ immigration gulag: Milwaukee Judge Hanna Dugan, Baraka, McIver, and David Huerta (they had to dismiss the charges against Baraka, and he is suing for malicious prosecution).
A pattern is emerging.
All of these cases were charged as complaint, even though both the Dugan and McIver case had time to go before a grand jury.
In the three assault-realted cases, Homeland Security has attested them; these may be men moved from their day job hunting international crime to carrying out Stephen Miller’s gulag.
In all cases, Pam Bondi’s people did something — posting a picture of Hannah Dugan handcuffed, Habba making false claims about Baraka and McIver on her personal Xitter account and then announcing the McIver indictment before polls closed in New Jersey, Acting US Attorney Bill Essayli posting about the Huerta assault before it was charged — that violates DOJ’s media guidelines. In the assault related cases, HSI arguably assaulted a Democrat doing something legal (Congressional and Mayoral oversight in the New Jersey case, peaceful protest on a public sidewalk in Huerta’s case), and charged them for it — though DHS has done that with non-public citizens as well.
None of this means these cases (Baraka’s excepted) will fail. It means the people Bondi keeps charging even after being admonished in the Baraka case (and the Eric Adams case) will be able to point back to an increasing pattern.
“The story Alina Habba tells about Baraka keeps changing”. Should that be McIver?
Knowing Temp USA Habba, it would be rarer if a story didn’t change.
Bondi is setting herself up for a series of Durhamesque losses at best, and I can’t imagine Convict-1 / Krasnov / TACO will be pleased with those outcomes. The publicity pattern will bite her as well in any future civil action for malicious prosecution because it is so pervasive across so many venues. That means this shows it was Bondi’s policy in play, not just Alina Habba’s local policy. The recent resignation of the TN AUSA for the KAG prosecution will also tar Pam as well.
The fact it also violates longstanding DoJ policy might become cause for removing official immunity, exposing Bondi, et al to money damages. Hahahahaha.
Since the job of the US Attorney General is to provide distracting entertainment it would seem likely that POTUS is not going to be unhappy with her. Now if her goal was to support the law and the Constitution, someone else would have gotten the job.
There’s probably another on the way: Senator Padilla was shoved out of Noem’s presser and handcuffed, after identifying himself and saying he had a question.
https://www.sfgate.com/news/politics/article/california-sen-alex-padilla-forcefully-removed-20374519.php
Latest word from the T&V is that the Senator is not being detained and that he wasn’t wearing his official lapel pin identifier.
Really?!
WEAK.
Especially if he identified himself! Jeebus!
IMO a lapel pin identifier would not have made a difference. If you have questions and are not pre screened you are likely going to be ejected from any session led by a Trump hooligan.
“If you have questions and are not pre screened you are likely going to be ejected from any session led by a Trump hooligan.”
FIFY:
If you have questions and are [disruptive] you are likely going to be ejected from any session led by a Trump hooligan.
Here’s a video of the news conference itself. At about 00:05:06, senator Padilla interrupts secretary Noem, then shouting, and a scuffle, ensues out of the frame. The video is set at the 00:05:00 minute point, but the entire video is available.
https://youtu.be/-RhD6YCf5kw?t=300.
Noem took questions beginning at 00:21:38. So senator Padilla is disrupting the press conference, and could have waited to ask questions like everyone else. Were the security people overdoing it by handcuffing him? I don’t know the protocols for removing hecklers, etc.
I certainly think Padilla should have challenged Noem, but being disruptive just gives Trumpies the excuse to say he asked for it.
The only place that pin is used as an identifier is at the US Capitol. If you don’t have that pin on, you can’t get into certain areas, use certain elevators, etc.
Anywhere else, it’s just a pin.
And now assualting and handcuffing the Senator from California performing his duty at Noem’s lying to the press conference
With today’s assault of Senator Padilla for attempting to ask a question of Secretary Noem at a press conference, do you think there will be charges brought against the Senator? Having seen the video, I find it difficult to imagine there would be, but it would certainly fit the pattern.
Pathetic weasel SOTH Johnson has called for censure of Senator Padilla. Disgusting.
He claims Padilla charged the lectern. Yeah, right, in a crowded room with Secret Service (who shouldn’t have to protect cabinet officials).
As far as I can tell, the US Attorney for the Southern District of California, Adam Gordon, is a professional, not a flunky. Perhaps others know more or better?
The pattern I’m seeing is these are all performative spectacle/ red meat for the base. Their version of events are blasted out on Fauxnuz while the facts are buried in legal filings. They don’t care about winning the cases. In fact, they don’t want to win the cases. They want to lose so they can tell the base how despicable the opposition is and how unfair the unelected judges are to them. Facts be damned. Standard dictator’s playbook to discredit all who oppose them.
Based upon events this week in LA, I believe we are through the looking glass. They have no fear of the law and use it as a weapon against the innocent and our democracy. They have no intention relinquishing power, ever, or to answer for their crimes.
I really don’t understand how Pam Bondi puts herself in the mindset she is in when speaking to the media. The former spokeswoman for Qatar is often literally lying or fabricating an alternative universe when she speaks to the cameras, yet preserves this grave seriousness, as if she were speaking for God herself. It’s either something like good acting or a Stepford Wife gaze that she and Karoline Leavitt and other FOX adjacent bimbos have adopted to give them mock seriousness? In any case, I find myself either wanting to chuckle or slink away from the scene because of the creepiness of it…