Trump threatens to take federal control of D.C.

spat said:

For the most part the police *do* their job.

They make tons of arrests.

If the criminals weren't back on the street in hours the problem would go away.

This is entirely on the prosecutors, judges, and legislators.

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My point exactly, no justice.

WASHINGTON — As members of the National Guard deploy to the nation's capital as part of the Trump administration's takeover of policing in Washington, members of the military are also set to take on prosecutorial roles handling civilian crimes.

Twenty members of the Defense Department are set to begin working as special assistant U.S. attorneys — federal prosecutors — in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia next week, two people familiar with the matter told NBC News. [...]

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro recently told Fox News that her office is understaffed and needs 90 prosecutors, as well as 60 investigators and paralegals. The Trump administration has fired numerous federal prosecutors who worked on the Jan. 6 cases, contributing to the shortage.

"To the extent the U.S. Attorney’s Office has a shortage of lawyers, this administration did itself no favors by firing qualified prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 cases and pushing out others by pursuing such an obviously political agenda," said former Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Ballou, who worked on Jan. 6 cases. "It sounds like the U.S. attorney is trying to import both staff and credibility; I don’t think it’ll work."

For some contrast to this story. (BTW, I'm really enjoying Jeff Childers website coffeeandcovid.com and recommend checking it out. Amusing and insightful.) FWIW, Childers is an attorney experienced in Constitutional Law and takes a stand against medical overreach as a result of COVID.


[Amid a shortage of staff in the DC office, new Attorney General Jeanine Pirro announced this weekend that twenty DoD military prosecutors will join her office, to handle the swelling crowd of jailbirds and miscreants rounded up by National Guardsmen in DC.

Adding insult to progressive injury, the announcement said they would be assigned to handle misdemeanors, like open container, loitering, and failing to abate a smoky chimney. Did you or did you not jump the turnstile!!

Unsurprisingly, NBC framed it as a Trumpian failure. So far as I can understand, they’re laughing like nitrous-huffing hyenas because Trump made his own bed by firing 90 prosecutors and 60 paralegals who worked the January 6th cases, and now he has to lie in it. Haha!

Or something like that.

But the choice of JAGs wasn’t desperation. Sorry, NBC. It’s strategic. If this were just about filling chairs, DOJ has plenty of options: detail prosecutors from Baltimore, Richmond, or Philly, hire temps, or even reassign AUSAs from less busy districts. They’ve done that before. But this time, they tapped military prosecutors. That tells us a lot.

First of all, JAG culture is military culture. They’re trained to see order, discipline, and accountability as non-negotiable. In their normal courts-martial world, “catch and release” isn’t a thing. The signal couldn’t be any clearer: The days of “no bail” and “deferred prosecution deals” are over.

(Portlanders: ‘JAG’ stands for “Judge Advocate General Corps.” It’s the U.S. military’s legal department. Every branch has its own JAGs— Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and the Coast Guard. They’re commissioned officers who serve as both prosecutors and defense attorneys in courts-martial, advise commanders on military law, and handle things like rules of engagement, investigations, and international issues.)

Second — and the reason NBC didn’t dare shriek “authoritarianism” this time — is that it’s perfectly legal. D.C. isn’t a state; it’s a federal zone. Misdemeanors there are already prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, not a local DA. So swapping in JAGs doesn’t break the law — it bends the narrative. Which is exactly the point.

Trump’s move is theater with a purpose: put military prosecutors in the nation’s capital, then point to the results as a living split-screen between real justice in D.C. and the chaos still unfolding in blue cities where progressive DAs hand out no-bail deals like parking tickets. It’s less about shoplifters and loiterers, more about proving a point: discipline works, and everyone can see who’s delivering it.

Also unsurprisingly, this move lit up the QAnon message boards, where some folks are already convinced the JAGs are secretly here for military tribunals and mass deep state arrests. Sorry, guys— for now, at least, they’re starting with drunks and shoplifters.

But give Trump this much: he sure knows how to make theater look like prophecy.

And, we must admit that we don’t know the plan (nor should we). What starts as JAGs handling easy misdemeanor cases could be a tentative toehold. Once they’re embedded in the office, and start learning their way around civilian law, their scope can expand— from jaywalkers to carjackers, from shoplifters to shooters, from loiterers to high public officials.

In short, the uniforms are in the room now, and one suspects Trump won’t just leave overpowered pieces idle once they’re on the board.

We’ll be watching the dockets with great interest.]


ATM I don't have huge faith that any of that will happen, but I can't deny that were it to happen, this development does align.

Couple minor thoughts:
The Founders were fearful of a Standing Army for very good reasons...
I support Trump, and feel what he's doing is not only in the Letter, but the Spirit of the Law, and frankly necessary as the rather dark populace of the democrat run DC has turned the whole place into a shit-hole embarrassment to the World that looks to us for civility, wealth, and culture...I've been to DC several times, each subsequent trip more a disappointment than the last....BTW: Downtown Albany for five miles around the Capitol Office Buildings is just as bad or worse...so much for "The Empire State"...looks more like the destitute State.
National Guard Soldiers for the most part are ate-the-fuck-up: I realize some have been deployed, received Training for various missions (if you know a Corrections Officer, ask him how the NG Kids are doing in the Prisons and how many have had their lives totally fucked from getting swindled/conned by Inmates) and even a few are professionals in the Civilian world or were Ranking Soldiers on active duty, but for the most part they're the same as you and I with basic training...sorry, but their use is tantamount to disaster especially given deployment past a few weeks...Bodies in Uniform showing some semblance of Force and Empiricism.
I worry how long before Congress says "hey, look how well Soldiers worked out cleaning up DC, so we'll authorize Troops under NDAA to go into other Cities." And before you shout Posse Comitatus, I'll remind you that was addressed and essentially gutted with the NDAA under Bush II (who thank God we never hear from anymore) I'm all for stopping crime and criminal activities, especially in our "Big City's" but I'm all about Keeping our Rights and OUR Control over OUR Government.

FP1201 said:

Couple minor thoughts:
The Founders were fearful of a Standing Army for very good reasons...
I support Trump, and feel what he's doing is not only in the Letter, but the Spirit of the Law, and frankly necessary as the rather dark populace of the democrat run DC has turned the whole place into a shit-hole embarrassment to the World that looks to us for civility, wealth, and culture...I've been to DC several times, each subsequent trip more a disappointment than the last....BTW: Downtown Albany for five miles around the Capitol Office Buildings is just as bad or worse...so much for "The Empire State"...looks more like the destitute State.
National Guard Soldiers for the most part are ate-the-fuck-up: I realize some have been deployed, received Training for various missions (if you know a Corrections Officer, ask him how the NG Kids are doing in the Prisons and how many have had their lives totally fucked from getting swindled/conned by Inmates) and even a few are professionals in the Civilian world or were Ranking Soldiers on active duty, but for the most part they're the same as you and I with basic training...sorry, but their use is tantamount to disaster especially given deployment past a few weeks...Bodies in Uniform showing some semblance of Force and Empiricism.
I worry how long before Congress says "hey, look how well Soldiers worked out cleaning up DC, so we'll authorize Troops under NDAA to go into other Cities." And before you shout Posse Comitatus, I'll remind you that was addressed and essentially gutted with the NDAA under Bush II (who thank God we never hear from anymore) I'm all for stopping crime and criminal activities, especially in our "Big City's" but I'm all about Keeping our Rights and OUR Control over OUR Government.

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Definitely a slippery slope. Maybe a necessary one, but I dunno. Sometimes it just feels like we are stuck in a ruse between dems and repubs playing good cop, bad cop. Dems set up chaos so repubs can bring down the hammer. Then at some point they swap platforms, rinse, repeat.

Of course a lot of the problem is compromised media layered on top of compromised and corrupt gov officials. It seems our greatest freedoms can also be our Achilles heel.

I think that was something Yuri Bezmonov tried to warn about, but few pay any attention.

"Armed guard members will carry the type of weapon they are normally issued and trained on, typically M17 handguns and M4 semiautomatic rifles, similar to assault-style rifles, the Defense Department officials said. Some guard members will carry M9 pistols."

"The military weapons are similar to those used by local police departments across the United States. The M4 is a standard semiautomatic rifle and has roughly the same capabilities as semiautomatic rifles used by law enforcement agencies."

I may be wrong, but isn't the M4 a select-fire rifle?

jimc said:

The weapons that National Guard troops now carry in Washington, D.C.

The pistols and powerful rifles guard members carry are similar to those local police use across the country. Troops have been told to use their weapons only as a last resort.

www.nbcnews.com

"Armed guard members will carry the type of weapon they are normally issued and trained on, typically M17 handguns and M4 semiautomatic rifles, similar to assault-style rifles, the Defense Department officials said. Some guard members will carry M9 pistols."

"The military weapons are similar to those used by local police departments across the United States. The M4 is a standard semiautomatic rifle and has roughly the same capabilities as semiautomatic rifles used by law enforcement agencies."

I may be wrong, but isn't the M4 a select-fire rifle?

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Trump calls the Governor a "Slob" I'm Laugning my balls off! And yes the M-4 is slect fire.

jimc said:

The weapons that National Guard troops now carry in Washington, D.C.

The pistols and powerful rifles guard members carry are similar to those local police use across the country. Troops have been told to use their weapons only as a last resort.

www.nbcnews.com

"Armed guard members will carry the type of weapon they are normally issued and trained on, typically M17 handguns and M4 semiautomatic rifles, similar to assault-style rifles, the Defense Department officials said. Some guard members will carry M9 pistols."

"The military weapons are similar to those used by local police departments across the United States. The M4 is a standard semiautomatic rifle and has roughly the same capabilities as semiautomatic rifles used by law enforcement agencies."

I may be wrong, but isn't the M4 a select-fire rifle?

Click to expand...

Well it's a News story, so facts and accuracy aren't necessary, only writing at a Fourth Grade level.

jimc said:

"Armed guard members will carry the type of weapon they are normally issued and trained on, typically M17 handguns and M4 semiautomatic rifles, similar to assault-style rifles, the Defense Department officials said. Some guard members will carry M9 pistols."

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Ahh.... but did the Defense Department actually use the left's improper and inaccurate designation, which was designed to instill fear in the populous, in their statement, or was it added later by the "news"?

spat said:

For the most part the police *do* their job.

They make tons of arrests.

If the criminals weren't back on the street in hours the problem would go away.

This is entirely on the prosecutors, judges, and legislators.

Click to expand...

I'd argue that is mostly on the legislators. Many judges want to hold people but "bail reform" prevents them from doing so. Many judges have complained about it, rightly so by the way.

Bail reform was needed to a degree, but that pendulum swang way too far the other way. If it's a first time offender for a non-violent act I don't want them stuck in jail taking up taxpayer resources. I'm not saying to not hold them accountable, they still need to go through the courts and have a punishment doled out if found guilty, but a first time offender that stole a loaf of bread doesn't need to be stitting in jail while waiting. It's wasteful of tax dollars. On the other hand violent acts, acts of severe public safety (ie. Drunk driving, Hit and run, etc.) or repeat non-violent offenders should be getting held in jail while waiting trial. No bail - you did something bad enough that you get to sit and think about it until trial or you didn't learn your lesson the first time on a lesser act to reconsider future actions.

SonOfSun said:

I'd argue that is mostly on the legislators. Many judges want to hold people but "bail reform" prevents them from doing so. Many judges have complained about it, rightly so by the way.

Bail reform was needed to a degree, but that pendulum swang way too far the other way. If it's a first time offender for a non-violent act I don't want them stuck in jail taking up taxpayer resources. I'm not saying to not hold them accountable, they still need to go through the courts and have a punishment doled out if found guilty, but a first time offender that stole a loaf of bread doesn't need to be stitting in jail while waiting. It's wasteful of tax dollars. On the other hand violent acts, acts of severe public safety (ie. Drunk driving, Hit and run, etc.) or repeat non-violent offenders should be getting held in jail while waiting trial. No bail - you did something bad enough that you get to sit and think about it until trial or you didn't learn your lesson the first time on a lesser act to reconsider future actions.

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The rot starts in the legislature for sure.

But in all the worst jurisdictions there are prosecutors who refuse to even charge the real crime if the perpetrators belong to a "marginalized minority". They completely ignore the fact that the victims are most likely the same minority, and absolutely don't deserve to live in a crime infested shithole just because of their skin color.

And then you have judges with the same attitude.

That's why even in red states with reasonable laws, you still have enclaves of blue where violent crime is epidemic.