With arguments over states rights permeating the political discussion once again — as some still fall back on the the ol’ “the Civil War was about states rights, not slavery” crap, again — in the wake and ripples after Charlottesville, it’s interesting that an actual example of states rights, or federalism, is coming into play in the investigation of the President.
The President’s recent pardon of convicted criminal Joe Arpaio raised the ugly specter that the President might be able to use that power to pardon his and his associate’s way out of the Russian investigation, if (when) that may be necessary. As diarist Frank Vyan Walton wrote recently, legal scholars quickly pointed out that such pardons wouldn’t provide protection from state prosecutions, only federal.
Apparently, Special Counsel Mueller was listening. He is now reportedly in partnership with New York Attorney General Eric Schneidermann for at least part of the Special Counsel’s investigation, particularly as it relates to Paul Manafort.
AG Schneidermann has a checkered history with the President, having ended the Trump University fraud scandal with a $25 million dollar settlement, and being part of the various lawsuits, along with AsG from around the country, against the President’s Muslim immigration ban. The President, of course, has treated Schneidermann with his usual childish flair, calling the AG a “lightweight” on twitter since at least 2013.
The SC and AG partnership does two things. First, again, SC Mueller may be trying to ensure that the President can’t avoid criminal charges against him or his cronies through his pardoning power, by involving a relevant state’s attorney’s office. This may not have been exactly what Madison et al were thinking about when drafting the Constitution, when they created parallel court systems at the state and federal levels, but I think it shows how sound the overall structural thinking was, that no one is above the law (and least not forever).
Related to that, if AG Schneidermann wanted to test the limits of Presidential immunity sooner rather than later, he will be well briefed. In any case, if the President were to fire Mueller and end the investigation, which is still a very real possibility, one can imagine that the Special Counsel’s offices would be cleaned out pretty quickly, so it’s good to create some redundancy.
Second, possibly, this gives SC Mueller access to investigatory materials that the AG has on Trump, including information about Trump’s finances (follow the money!) that were uncovered during the Trump U. and other cases. I’m sure this will be the subject of some of effort by the President’s lawyers to stop, but I’m guessing that SC Mueller has already figured all that out. Heck, I’m starting to get the sense there isn’t much the Special Counsel hasn’t figured out.
While that may spell a lot of trouble for this President, that still doesn’t mean we should bank on his efforts. As reported by Ursulafaw this week, the recent victory by Democrat Karen Keys-Gamarra in a Fairfax County, VA special election for the school board, against a white supremacist-endorsed Republican, is a great start. Even if only a relatively small win, it flips a seat and did so by a 2-to-1 margin.
Moreover, there are a number of elections coming up in November, the most important collection being, once again, back in the Commonwealth of Virginia. If you haven’t already, please, make sure to get involved — and remember, it’s THIS November. With summer ending and school starting, it’s easy for these off-year elections to slip by — don’t let it! Voter turnout statistics show the fall off in election participation is precipitous after a Presidential tilt — 70%+ voter participation in VA for Presidential election years, and only 40%+ the following year (when most of the Commonwealth’s state offices are up for grabs).
Check out 90for90.org for more information on the upcoming races in the Old Dominion and elsewhere.
Take nothing for granted.