In the House investigation into Donald Trump’s involvement in the affairs of January 6, one thing is clear. Trump is desperate to stop it entirely before evidence is presented.

That’s generally how he’s handled every court case he’s been involved with, actually. He stalls, countersues, then tries to argue that the case should be dismissed entirely.

It rarely works, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. And that’s exactly what he’s been trying to do this time.

We reported a few days ago on how Trump’s legal team had begged Judge Tanya Chutkan to order a page-by-page review of evidence in the investigation for anything that might be considered privileged information. That could have delayed findings for months.

But the basis for their request was the statement that the FBI and Senate had somehow already cleared Trump of any culpability for the riots. That is, of course, ridiculous, since he was literally impeached for inciting the event in the first place.

Judge Chutkan, however, ordered a hearing for today to decide whether that claim had merit. I don’t think Team Trump was quite ready for the Judge’s reaction, though.

When the defense for Trump was asked what the basis was for their assertion that authorities had cleared the former president of any involvement, they responded that they were quoting an article that quoted someone inside the FBI.

Just a published article from Reuters … quoting the FBI…

That’s not just hearsay, that’s double hearsay, even if it is from an ostensibly non-partisan source like Reuters. Any lawyer worth their first billable hour would know that no such thing could ever be entered into evidence in a court of law.

Chutkan seemed to laugh as she double-checked that she’d heard them correctly:

You cite an article… I mean, that’s your only support for that statement?

Don’t worry, Judge. We are all laughing right along with you.

Trump lawyer: “A former President has rights”

Judge responds unequivocally- a former President has fewer rights when the current President waives the executive privilege

Judge also asks Trump lawyer to “dial back the rhetoric” when Trump attorney references “document dump”

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) November 4, 2021

Rough start for team Trump

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) November 4, 2021

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