Supreme Court Makes 18 USC 1512 a Paperwork Crime, But Does Not Address Corrupt Purpose
In a move that will roil hundreds of January 6 prosecutions, the Supreme Court just required a paperwork nexus for Obstruction prosecutions.
Author Archive for: emptywheel
About emptywheel
Marcy Wheeler is an independent journalist writing about national security and civil liberties. She writes as emptywheel at her eponymous blog, publishes at outlets including Vice, Motherboard, the Nation, the Atlantic, Al Jazeera, and appears frequently on television and radio. She is the author of Anatomy of Deceit, a primer on the CIA leak investigation, and liveblogged the Scooter Libby trial.
Marcy has a PhD from the University of Michigan, where she researched the “feuilleton,” a short conversational newspaper form that has proven important in times of heightened censorship. Before and after her time in academics, Marcy provided documentation consulting for corporations in the auto, tech, and energy industries. She lives with her spouse in Grand Rapids, MI.
Entries by emptywheel
Aileen Cannon Confesses She’s Unable to Distinguish between Golf Balls and Nuclear Weapons
/23 Comments/in 2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, Leak Investigations/by emptywheelDepending on how you count, Aileen Cannon issued three or four decisions yesterday. The most telling is an order letting Trump have a mulligan on whether his false attacks on the FBI pose a danger to society. As Jack Smith’s team described in a filing, after a hearing on the matter on June 24, Judge […]
Sammy Alito Makes a Great Case Trump Censored Fox News’ Accurate 2020 Election Reporting
/15 Comments/in 2020 Presidential Election, emptywheel/by emptywheelIn his Murthy v. Missouri dissent, Sam Alito said that if the President demands that a media outlet censor true content to publish favored content, that is impermissible censorship. He made a great case that Donald Trump unlawfully dictated Fox News’ coverage during the 2020 transition.
The Damaging Precedent of the Julian Assange Espionage Guilty Plea
/25 Comments/in WikiLeaks/by emptywheelDOJ could have drafted the plea agreement with Julian Assange to do far less damage going forward, but for reasons that are not yet clear, they did not.
The Nuclear Weapons Document Trump Stashed under Bubble Wrap and a Christmas Pillow
/35 Comments/in 2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Leak Investigations/by emptywheelAmong the things disclosed by a new Jack Smith filing is that Trump stored a document about nuclear weapons under some bubble wrap and Christmas pillow.
“Nobody ever slept on that side of the bed usually so he would have it all full of boxes”
/65 Comments/in 2020 Presidential Election, 2024 Presidential Election, Leak Investigations/by emptywheelAccording to one of Trump’s White House aides, he kept a cluster of boxes on the side of his bed, where (usually) no one slept, and had intimate knowledge of what was in the boxes.
Julian Assange to Plead to One Count of Espionage Act on Way Back to Australia
/34 Comments/in WikiLeaks/by emptywheelJulian Assange will plead guilty to one felony count of violating the Espionage Act.
“Double Jeopardy Protection … Is [Hunter Biden’s] Right”
/17 Comments/in 2024 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Hunter Biden/by emptywheelAbbe Lowell has rolled out a bunch of tactical reasons why Hunter Biden’s conviction (at least on the key possession charge) should be overturned.
Derek Hines Ensures that Two Likely Appeals Will Implicate His False Claims about Hunter Biden’s New Haven Crack Pipe
/16 Comments/in 2024 Presidential Election, emptywheel, Guns, Hunter Biden/by emptywheelHunter Biden’s as-applied challenge to the gun charges against him will be far more interesting than his facial challenge to them. And that makes Derek Hines’ continued false claims about the timeline a bit of a problem.
Ashraf Shaaban Listed as Global Legal Head of National Bank of Egypt
/25 Comments/in 2016 Presidential Election, Foreign Influence/by emptywheelThe American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt ties a lawyer named in the court filings investigating a suspected payment to Trump to the National Bank of Egypt.