Documents: Partisan DC Judge Beryl Howell Had Secret Ex Parte Conversations with Fake Special Counsel Jack Smith

In a court, all communications with the judge are supposed to include counsel for both sides. So that both sides may weigh in on proposals and motions.

But Obama appointee and Democrat ringer Beryl Howell had secret ex parte communications with Jack Smith, behind Trump's lawyers' backs.

Hans Mahncke
@HansMahncke

You may have heard that anti-Trump Judge Howell had secret communications with Jack Smith, telling him she "liked" and even "loved" an omnibus approach, meaning all executive privilege claims would be decided in one sweep. The full story is even worse.

At a hearing before those communications, Howell told Trump's lawyers she needed to review executive privilege claims on a case by case basis, probably because she wanted to create massive legal costs and keep anti-Trump investigations in the news by dragging them out.

But as soon as Smith was appointed, she saw a chance to deliver the knockout blow and completely flipped, privately telling Smith she wanted to do a swift, all-at-once ruling. Absolutely shocking misconduct, and yet nothing will happen to her.

Hans Mahncke for The Federalist:

Chief Judge Howell Privately Endorsed Jack Smith's Get-Trump Lawfare Behind closed doors, the judge overseeing Trump's grand jury told prosecutors she 'loved' their legal strategy.

A Department of Justice briefing document released by Sen. Chuck Grassley shows that Jack Smith's special counsel team engaged in private communications with two federal judges overseeing Trump-related investigations: Chief Judge Beryl Howell and her successor, Judge James Boasberg, both Obama appointees on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and both known for their outspoken anti-Trump positions.

The document was prepared for then-Attorney General Merrick Garland on Jan. 13, 2023. It was released by Grassley ahead of this week's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the FBI's Arctic Frost investigation into the aftermath of the 2020 election. Smith took over the investigation in November 2022, and at that point, his team likely engaged in improper communications with the two judges.

According to the briefing document, Smith's team informed Garland that they had been in touch with Howell and that "She liked our approach of pursuing the executive privilege litigation in an omnibus fashion," meaning the consolidation of various motions into a single filing rather than handling each separately. The notes record that Howell was aware such a motion was coming "and loves the idea." A separate entry referenced a forthcoming meeting with Boasberg scheduled for Saturday, March 18, 2023, the day after he became chief judge, taking over from Howell.

Judges are generally not allowed to privately communicate with one party in a pending case without notifying the other party. However, there are exceptions. In the dispute over President Trump's executive privilege before Howell, the issues arose in the context of grand jury proceedings. As Chief Judge overseeing grand jury administration, she and the DOJ were technically allowed to communicate without Trump's lawyers present on matters strictly related to the grand jury. Such communications could include scheduling witness testimony, addressing procedural questions, or resolving other administrative issues necessary for the grand jury to function.

What they could not do in secret was discuss the substance of pending litigation, offer advice on prosecutorial strategy, signal support for one side's approach, or endorse a plan that would effectively pre-decide disputes between the parties. Expressing enthusiasm for the DOJ's omnibus strategy in executive privilege litigation falls clearly into that forbidden category.

...

This forced Trump's team into a defensive posture, preparing for many separate legal battles. Yet by later secretly endorsing the DOJ's omnibus plan, she green-lit a mechanism to pierce those privileges in bulk, effectively rigging the process in the government's favor.

posted by Disinformation Expert Ace at 01:10 PM

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