!! Judge Dale Ho appoints conservative legal superstar Paul Clement to present arguments on Judge Ho's options on whether and how to dismiss the Eric Adams indictment storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... - ThreadSky

joshuajfriedman.com • 23 hours ago

!! Judge Dale Ho appoints conservative legal superstar Paul Clement to present arguments on Judge Ho's options on whether and how to dismiss the Eric Adams indictment https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628916/gov.uscourts.nysd.628916.136.0_2.pdf

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audreyii.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I don't understand the implications of this but I really want to

newba.com•23 hours ago

The Judge is not happy.

audreyii.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Am I reading it right that the judge is saying "You are both lying shits and I need a third opinion that's not invested in this quid pro quo succeeding"?

randyhermanlaw.com•21 hours ago

This, but also the third opinion is a very highly respected conservative attorney and former government lawyer under Bush so nobody can accuse him of being biased against the federal government

lmhinh.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Well, he’s definitely saying they’re in bed & not representing the public interest

whetstone.bsky.social•23 hours ago

How does appointing a Very Very Conservative Lawyer for this communicate that? I feel like this is a thing that lawyers understand implicitly but it's going over layperson me's head.

audreyii.bsky.social•23 hours ago

There's a lot of Very Very Conservative Lawyers that have resigned over this.

whetstone.bsky.social•23 hours ago

I asked the question in another thread and @proptermalone.bsky.social explained it as "reprogramming the Terminator" which is in fact quite funny so now I guess I understand the reactions on this one.

lovovmelife.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Wait i don’t get that reference so now im really confused lolll

jarekfa.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Judge needs someone to argue against dismissal. He appointed a someone who has a lot of cred in the legal conservative establishment and he's also very qualified and makes it less likely it gets overruled on appeal. He's likely to oppose dismissal since it's an obvious fraud on the court.

rahaeli.bsky.social•18 hours ago

Also, he's one of the top people to hire to argue in front of the Supreme Court, so this move means that if anything related to the case ends up there, Judge Ho has just made sure Clement can't be the one arguing for either party

bill-of-lefts.bsky.social•18 hours ago

The solicitor general would be arguing for the United States regardless

internethuman.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Ok yes, but what happens if he opposes dismissal? The DOJ doesn't want to prosecute. What's to stop them from just, not participating? Not showing up at trial, not doing anything.

jarekfa.bsky.social•22 hours ago

They're just st the stage where they're arguing whether the judge has authority to look at anything else in determining whether to grant the dismissal (and whether with or without prejudice).

whetstone.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I saw somebody the other day mention the possibility of the judge appointing an independent prosecutor. Not sure whether that person actually knows what they're talking about, though.

newba.com•23 hours ago

Appointing anybody at all for this says that. He could have just accepted the dismissal; instead he’s asking for another opinion.

giantsigh.bsky.social•22 hours ago

He's more of a Scalia Constitutionalist attorney rather than a MAGA alt right attorney so may be more apt to make a more "impartial" decision

joedunman.bsky.social•23 hours ago

Sure, why not

joshuajfriedman.com•23 hours ago

Judge Ho notes that prosecution and defense are united here, and adversarial testing is an important part of the legal process

joshuajfriedman.com•23 hours ago

Paul Clement is a prominent and frequent advocate before the US Supreme Court, solicitor general under George W. Bush, and someone who has historically been thought to be a good candidate for a SCOTUS seat himself.

He's very conservative, but AFAIK in an old-fashioned rather than Trumpy way

petergratton.bsky.social•22 hours ago

In the same way the FBI always gets a Republican head, judges always appoint conservative amici to ensure all looks fair. Not saying it's the wrong choice, but our frame who counts as neutral arbiters of justice is quite constrained.

joshuajfriedman.com•22 hours ago

I think the idea, in part, is that Clement might act as a proxy for dissenting voices like resigned prosecutor Danielle Sassoon—a fellow Scalia clerk of a different generation

joshuajfriedman.com•22 hours ago

It is pretty funny that Judge Ho's citation for the point that he's authorized to appoint an outside attorney in this role is a case in which the outside attorney appointed *was also Paul Clement*

elkmovie.bsky.social•22 hours ago

He’s a conservative but he’s also 10x as good a lawyer as anybody who will be appearing for DOJ

ablativmeatshld.bsky.social•22 hours ago

He's consert in the "I'm rather fond of institutions and the rule of law" fashion.

rismith.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Bet that clerk was pretty proud of finding that cite

dell-adams.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I'm imagining a future case where someone says, "Yes, there's precedent for a district court appointing an amicus, as long as it's Paul Clement"

phrly.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Also it's notable to begin with that Clement agreed to this role! You don't get randomly picked for this - judge Ho would have had to have reached out to Clement and asked.

misternov3mber.bsky.social•20 hours ago

I would think Judge Ho's order also allows sufficient space for Clement to introduce potentially compelling affidavits or other fact statements from Sassoon & other former DOJ witnesses to Bove's corrupt deal-making.

emptywheel.bsky.social•22 hours ago

I was wondering whether Ho reached out to Clement or Clement, having spoken to Sassoon and Scotten, reached out to Ho.

I guess he could only have done that on the docket though?

joshuajfriedman.com•22 hours ago

A fascinating hypothesis! But yes, that would have appeared as a request from Clement to appear as amicus on the docket

waxrepli.ca•22 hours ago

unless it was done informally, which would suggest an angrier judge than the alternate hypothesis. certainly the alternative is more likely

anaphoristand.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Given yesterday's amicus filing proposing appointment of amici was the first entry into the record AFAIK in that regard, the quick turnaround makes me wonder whether Ho already had this all teed up, just waiting for a catalyst.
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652/gov.uscourts.flsd.648652.679.0_3.pdf

emptywheel.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Maybe he called all the Scalia clerks he was friendly with!!

😂

theescapist.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Ah the 58 year old wunderkind

liminalatlaw.bsky.social•22 hours ago

https://bsky.app/profile/liminalatlaw.bsky.social/post/3lipfw74tik27

inwpublicdefender.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Another example of “only republicans can investigate republicans, and only republicans can investigate democrats”.

waxrepli.ca•22 hours ago

if the judge did find that dismissal was inappropriate, where does that leave the charges when the government remains unwilling to prosecute?

is the best we can hope for dismissal with prejudice, to eliminate threat of further prosecution to enforce adams' quid-pro-quo vis-a-vis immigration policy?

dicools.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Special prosecutor arguably

waxrepli.ca•22 hours ago

is there a precedent for a judge finding that the government improperly moved to dismiss criminal charges?

dicools.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Not my field so I don’t know

bobdunkin.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Arguably yes based on your question. Flynn.
However, that was also after the trial/before sentencing IIRC. IE, they WON, and then said...nah. This hasn't started trial yet - so it's different rules - hence the judge wanting to get a second opinion.

lmhinh.bsky.social•22 hours ago

The guy who brought us Bruen? I am worried about Judge Ho’s choice of counsel.

ryanwa.bsky.social•12 hours ago

Yes he did. The judge did allow for other amici to make arguments.

devonianstone.bsky.social•23 hours ago

bringing out the big guns!

grrizz.bsky.social•14 hours ago

Judge Ho was basically like i need a real lawyer in the court, not this magat Bove.

jennvg.bsky.social•22 hours ago

So Ho seems pretty wily here, no?

proptermalone.bsky.social•22 hours ago

tam-lin.bsky.social•22 hours ago

Is this Clement burning any chance he has for a Supreme Court appointment going forward?

joshuajfriedman.com•22 hours ago

I don’t think Clement has any chance of getting nominated for the Supreme Court by Trump et al. They’re only interested in the most extreme hacks.

joea64.bsky.social•21 hours ago

I agree. My initial impression - unless I'm wrong - is that Ho appointed Clements in part because he trusts Clements' integrity, and Trump is anaphylactic-shock-level allergic to integrity.

randyhermanlaw.com•20 hours ago

Yeah we are seeing a total realignment where the new sides are integrity and corruption. This is how Trump and Adams end up on one side with Ho and Clement on the other side.

tam-lin.bsky.social•21 hours ago

Right, but I’m wondering post-Trump. I guess it depends on what that looks like, and who knows?

joshuajfriedman.com•21 hours ago

To the extent that Clement’s role here is to stick up for conservatives with some integrity within the Trump administration, I’d imagine that would add to his existing good reputation in that (non-Trumpy GOP) circle. But I have no guesses about the future of the GOP!

armadillojackal.bsky.social•20 hours ago

He’s probably too old now (certainly will be in future Republican administration)

armadillojackal.bsky.social•20 hours ago

His best chance was during Trump’s first term

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