Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner

In his first week, President Joe Biden has been signing Executive Orders at a remarkable pace. Notably, these executive orders have an overarching theme of restoring honor, decency, accountability, diversity and equality to our federal government. In short, he is trying to repair the incalculable damage to our government done by Donald Trump. In another break with Trump precedent, Joe Biden directly confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin on the many issues for which Trump had given Putin a pass. Plus, the White House actually informed the American people of the substance of the conversation between Biden and Putin as opposed to having to hear about it from the Russia, as was always the case with the Trump administration. In short, what a difference a week makes. Please consider becoming a #TeamJustice patron at: https://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner My podcast, "Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner" can be downloaded where you get your podcasts. Follow me on: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/glennkirschner2  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glennkirschner2 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glennkirschner2 Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Attorneys General of Maryland and the District of Columbia, as well as the nonprofit organization Citizens for Responsible Ethics in Washington (CREW) sued Donald Trump for his obvious and chronic violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution (personally profiting from his office). The trial courts refused to dismiss the cases but Trump engaged in endless appeals and delays. When the cases finally made it up to the Supreme Court, the court dismissed the cases as moot because Trump is no longer president. This does little more than reward Trump for his endless delays. Sadly, the Supreme Court could have and should have relied on its own guiding principle of deciding - rather than dismissing - a case, that is "capable of repetition yet evading review."   This unjust development reinforces the need for a Presidential Crimes Commission, as Congressman Eric Swalwell has called it, or a Trump Crimes Commission, as I have called it while sharing a panel with Rep. Swalwell. Given the Supreme Court's unfortunate dismissal, the emoluments issue must now be put on the Crimes Commission's agenda.   Please consider becoming a #TeamJustice patron at: https://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner My podcast, "Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner" can be downloaded where you get your podcasts. Follow me on: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/glennkirschner2  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glennkirschner2 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glennkirschner2 Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The first Senate impeachment of Donald Trump was anything but a trial: no witnesses, no documents, no evidence, no testimony. Indeed, half of the Senators refused to hold Trump accountable for crimes and abuses he committed in plain sight. But if Senate Impeachment Trial part one was an embarrassment, just wait until Senate Impeachment Trial: The Sequel. Every single senator - the jurors - has a disqualifying conflict, as they are either witnesses, victims or possible instigators/perpetrators themselves. In my 30 years as a federal prosecutor I participated in jury selection hundreds of times. The first rule of jury selection is that each juror must be able to decide a case fairly and impartially, with absolutely no stake in the result. Now obviously, an impeachment trial is a political proceeding, not a criminal trial. But to suggest that senators who are witnesses to the insurrection, victims of the insurrection or enablers of the insurrection, can sit as fair jurors is pure folly.  In short, accountability and justice can not be achieved in a Senate Impeachment "trial." Accountability - justice - can only be achieved in a criminal trial. Please consider becoming a #TeamJustice patron at: https://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner My podcast, "Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner" can be downloaded where you get your podcasts. Follow me on: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/glennkirschner2  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glennkirschner2 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glennkirschner2 Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The Washington Post and the New York Times reported that Trump planned to oust Acting Attorney General Rosen so he could install a DOJ Official named Jeffrey Clark as AG so Clark could help him corruptly overturn the Georgia election results. What are the next steps to address a situation where a president of the United States recruited a top DOJ Official to participate in a criminal conspiracy to corruptly overturn election results? Clark should be subpoenaed by both Congress and a grand jury empaneled to investigate Trump's attempts to steal the election. When Clark inevitably invokes either executive privilege or his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination, here is how how issues will play out.  Please consider becoming a #TeamJustice patron at: https://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner My podcast, "Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner" can be downloaded where you get your podcasts. Follow me on: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/glennkirschner2  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glennkirschner2 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glennkirschner2 Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Senate MINORITY Leader Mitch McConnell is demanding that the Senate MAJORITY Leader Chuck Schumer leave the filibuster in place, meaning that it would make it significantly harder for the Democrats to pass legislation or confirm presidential nominees on a simple majority vote.  This is the same Mitch McConnell who bragged about being the grim reaper and presiding over a legislative graveyard where he sent all of the bills duly passed by the House of Representatives to die. This is the same Mitch McConnell who refused to give Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland his constitutionally required confirmation/advice and consent hearing claiming that such a hearing could not take place during the last year of a president's term only to turn around and hold a confirmation hearing for Amy Coney Barret just days before a presidential election. And now Mitch McConnell asks Chuck Schumer to let legislative bygones be bygones!? Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Topic 1: President Biden has decided to keep Christopher Wray as the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Here are the pros and cons of keeping Wray in place. Topic 2: Donald Trump pardons his close associate, Steve Bannon. Bannon therefore can not be charge in federal court but he CAN and should now be charged in state court. What are the consequences to a state court prosecution of Bannon's decision to accept a pardon? The answer might surprise you.  Please consider becoming a #TeamJustice patron at: https://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner My podcast, "Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner" can be downloaded where you get your podcasts. Follow me on: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/glennkirschner2  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glennkirschner2 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glennkirschner2 Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

During his inaugural address, Joe Biden said, "The dream of justice will be deferred no longer." Given the crimes and abuses of the Trump administration, Biden's words must become a battle cry. As difficult as it will be, the crimes of the past four years must be investigated and, when the evidence supports it, charged and prosecuted. There can be no justice without accountability, which is why President Biden's words regarding "justice" were as welcome as they were important.  Team Justice is on the job. Join us . . . Please consider becoming a #TeamJustice patron at: https://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner My podcast, "Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner" can be downloaded where you get your podcasts. Follow me on: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/glennkirschner2  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glennkirschner2 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glennkirschner2 Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

It's being reported that Trump is preparing to issue as many as 100 pardons. This surprises exactly no one, as it's a fitting last act of a president who has been largely lawless during his four years in office. But what are the consequences for the people who decide to accept a pardon from Trump? The Supreme Court answered that question in 1915 in the case of George Burdick v. The United States. Mr. Burdick was the editor of the New York Tribune who refused to accept a pardon from President Woodrow Wilson. The Supreme Court ruled that Mr. Burdick was well within his right to refuse the pardon because accepting a pardon carries with it "an imputation of guilt and a confession" that you committed the crime for which you are pardoned. This is an important doctrine because those "confessions" by individuals who accept Trump's pardons can actually come back to haunt them in a number of ways. Here's how . . .  Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

As a career federal prosecutor, I spent 30 years arguing cases in courts. In the final days of the Trump presidency, here is the first in a series of "closing arguments" regarding the legal issues that will have to be addressed in. the near future by the Biden administration. Today's installment: why the Department of Justice MUST challenge a presidential self-pardon and why the courts will strike down the the pardon.  Tomorrow's episode: why the available evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt why Donald Trump is criminally responsible for what happened at the US Capitol on January 6th AND why his corrupt intent/criminal mens rea/guilty state of mind is easier to prove than some might think.  Please consider becoming a #TeamJustice patron at: https://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner My podcast, "Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner" can be downloaded where you get your podcasts. Follow me on: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/glennkirschner2  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glennkirschner2 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glennkirschner2 Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

DC Federal District Court Judge Reggie Walton is presiding over Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation regarding the Mueller Report. In that capacity, Judge Walton discussed in open court on Friday how his colleague on the DC Federal Court, Judge Emmet Sullivan, might challenge Donald Trump's pardon of Mike Flynn.  Having appeared as a federal prosecutor before both Judge Walton and Judge Sullivan, I can attest to how these two jurists are entirely dedicated to the rule of law and the integrity of the criminal justice system and the federal judiciary. Moreover, it looks like they will have the courage to challenge potentially corruptly issued presidential pardons, whether or not there is precedent for such a challenge. Please consider becoming a #TeamJustice patron at: https://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner My podcast, "Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner" can be downloaded where you get your podcasts. Follow me on: Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/glennkirschner2  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glennkirschner2 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glennkirschner2 Support the show (http://www.patreon.com/glennkirschner) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.