{"id":1964384,"date":"2023-07-05T08:26:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-05T12:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-alleged-doj-misconduct-is-true-a-judge-could-dismiss-the-whole-case-against-trump\/"},"modified":"2023-07-05T08:28:00","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T12:28:00","slug":"if-alleged-doj-misconduct-is-true-a-judge-could-dismiss-the-whole-case-against-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-alleged-doj-misconduct-is-true-a-judge-could-dismiss-the-whole-case-against-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"If proven, alleged DOJ misconduct could lead to dismissal of Trump&#8217;s entire case."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fif-alleged-doj-misconduct-is-true-a-judge-could-dismiss-the-whole-case-against-trump%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1964384&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>Lost in the breathless headlines over the indictment of President Trump for alleged violations of the Espionage Act is a story that deserves much more attention than it has received thus far: the allegation that a senior official at the Department of Justice attempted to shake down Trump\u2019s co-defendant\u2019s lawyer. It is a scandal in the making that could result in the investigation of senior DOJ officials, which should lead to public congressional hearings, and that might even result in the entire case against Trump being dismissed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Trump\u2019s co-defendant is Waltine \u201cWalt\u201d Nauta, a Navy valet who served in Trump\u2019s White House and who remained a personal aide to Trump after he left office. Several weeks ago, Nauta\u2019s lawyer, a distinguished, highly-regarded Washington attorney named Stanley Woodward, leveled accusations against senior members of the Department of Justice, including DOJ Counterintelligence Chief Jay Bratt, who is now a part of Special Counsel Jack Smith\u2019s team of prosecutors. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2023\/jun\/08\/lawyer-trump-valet-nauta-mar-a-lago-classified-documents-misconduct-allegation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">news reports<\/a>, Woodward claimed in a sealed letter to D.C. District Chief Judge James Boasberg that, in a meeting to discuss Nauta\u2019s case, Bratt indicated that Woodward\u2019s application to be a D.C. Superior Court judge could be impacted if he could not get Nauta to testify against Trump.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-542679168\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f21ede345430bed24e0ce7562f1ad51f fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f21ede345430bed24e0ce7562f1ad51f\"><\/div>\n<p>If true, and I see no reason why Woodward would make such a threat up \u2014 and especially no reason why Woodward would risk his career by making such a representation to a federal judge \u2014 Bratt\u2019s alleged misconduct could result in heavy sanctions, and is a potential ground for dismissal of the entire case against Nauta and Trump.\u00a0Depending on what exactly was said, Bratt could even face criminal prosecution himself.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/casetext.com\/case\/us-v-chapman-18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cases<\/a> of flagrant prosecutorial misconduct, courts have the discretion to dismiss indictments altogether. If Woodward\u2019s claims are proven, U.S. District Judge Eileen Cannon would be well within her rights to consider a dismissal here.\u00a0The conduct claimed is perhaps unprecedented and certainly flagrant, amounting to nothing less than an effort by a high-ranking DOJ official to deprive a defendant of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel through inappropriate and potentially unlawful acts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>At the very least, Trump and Nauta deserve answers. Courts routinely allow discovery by the defense in cases of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/if-alleged-doj-misconduct-is-true-a-judge-could-dismiss-the-whole-case-against-trump\/\" title=\"If proven, alleged DOJ misconduct could lead to dismissal of Trump's entire case.\">alleged prosecutorial misconduct \u2014 including depositions<\/a> and requests for documents and communications \u2014 in order to determine the scope, breadth, and effects of any misconduct that occurred.\u00a0The defense team in this case should seek testimony from Bratt to get to the bottom of what he said and why.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>As importantly, defense counsel should also seek to subpoena any communications between Bratt and others in DOJ and the White House relating to Woodward\u2019s judgeship application and Bratt\u2019s approach to Woodward more generally.\u00a0My assumption is that these communications will be eye-opening, and may reveal even more misconduct on the part of the DOJ, the special counsel\u2019s team, and their political masters.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0ad927e8d96e4c7fd55a3a9c3ccc27b8 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-0ad927e8d96e4c7fd55a3a9c3ccc27b8\"><\/div>\n<p>The legal teams defending Trump and Nauta surely know all of this, and I am confident that they will pursue this and other lines of defense aggressively. But the American people also deserve to know the full details of misconduct by senior officials at the Department of Justice.<\/p>\n<p>Republicans in Congress should demand answers publicly and aggressively.\u00a0The House Judiciary Committee has jurisdiction to investigate matters relating to the administration of justice in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/army-vet-plans-to-appeal-ninth-circuit-ruling-against-gun-carry\/\" title=\"Army Vet Plans to Appeal Ninth Circuit Ruling Against Gun Carry\">federal court system<\/a>.\u00a0It has the power to subpoena Bratt, the other lawyers involved in the Trump prosecution, and senior Biden administration officials to get to the bottom of this.<\/p>\n<p>Make no mistake, this is a huge deal. Bratt\u2019s conduct may even fall within the ambit of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/father-of-alleged-sexual-assault-victim-demands-apology-from-nsba\/\" title=\"Father Of Alleged Sexual Assault Victim Demands Apology From NSBA\">federal criminal statutes<\/a>.\u00a0Depending on what exactly was said, Bratt\u2019s conduct could constitute attempted witness tampering in violation of 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1512(b)(1), attempted federal bribery in violation of 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 201(b)(3), attempted extortion by a federal official in violation of 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 872, or attempted subornation of perjury in violation of 18 U.S.C. \u00a7 1622.\u00a0 <\/p>\n<p>If the Department of Justice is truly committed to the open and transparent treatment of this case, a special counsel should be empowered to investigate Bratt\u2019s actions and any other alleged misconduct by Jack Smith\u2019s team.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bfb2bdccd704d9ff601a88a2b99660da fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bfb2bdccd704d9ff601a88a2b99660da\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e552eecee338cbdd0ab6e32bde1f93df fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-e552eecee338cbdd0ab6e32bde1f93df\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>the shadows, overshadowed by the sensational indictment of President Trump. A senior Department of Justice official stands accused of attempting to extort Trump&#8217;s co-defendant&#8217;s lawyer. This scandal demands greater scrutiny, as it has been largely overlooked amidst the flurry of attention on the Espionage Act charges against the President.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2124,"featured_media":1964385,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1964384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2124"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1964384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1964384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1964385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1964384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1964384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1964384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}