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Culture War Roundup for the week of July 31, 2023

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Cynical read is that Mr Garland is trying to distract the news cycle from talking about Hunter Biden or the FBI.

How long do you suppose an indictment like this takes to put together?

IANAL but my understanding of these sorts of legal processes is that they are much much too slow moving to be responsive to the vagaries of the news cycle.

How long do you suppose an indictment like this takes to put together?

6 - 12 hours.

INAL either but it seems to me that putting together the indictment is the easy part, it's all the discovery, motions, countermotions, and eventual trial that end up taking months or years. Garland doesn't need to convict to get a win here he just needs to give CNN, MSNBC, Et Al something to talk about.

Doing the investigative steps necessary (such as bringing witnesses before the grand jury, litigating subpoenas for documents and other evidence, etc) can take much longer.

Or no time at all depending on the circumstances. Much depends on how much faith you have in the FBI and Merrick Garland to act as honest brokers.

...are you suggesting that the various facts alleged in the indictment (e.g. on December 23rd co-conspirator 2 circulated a two page memorandum outlining a plan for Vice President Mike Pence to declare Donald Trump the certified winner of the election) are invented?

Do you trust the Biden administration not to invent such a thing? Or not to spin it a certain way by strategically omitting relevant context?

Yes. I would bet a large amount of money that the alleged memorandum existed and was circulated on December 23rd, based on this indictment.

I think it's crazy to think that high powered lawyers working for the Department of Justice would not make sure they got easily-tested facts right in the highest profile case of their careers.

Now answer my question.

My answer is that I do not share your faith. I fully expect lawyers to lie and/or omit critical context if it helps their case because that's what any lawyer worth hiring would do. I say this with a certain amount of affection, but I do genuinely believe that the most reliable way to predict a lawyer's behavior is to assume they are a shyster, every last one of them.

What's the old line? Trust but verify?

If these guys get caught lying what's the worst that happens to them? I would wager not a whole lot.

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