SDNY: This Bears Watching

Emailer Jim brought this NYT article to my attention. The title struck me as somewhat odd in tone. Maybe it's just me, but it struck me as, I dunno, just a bit defensive--as if the NYT thought it had something at stake here, too:

U.S. Prosecutors’ Bid to ‘Bury’ Evidence Draws Judge’s Wrath

In an unusual opinion, a federal judge criticized the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan for its handling of a high-stakes Iranian sanctions case.

What I mean is this. The NYT seemed to regard this opinion as unusual coming from this judge. The judge in question, it goes without saying, is as liberal as you can imagine: Alison Nathan. And the context in which this opinion has to be considered is the fact that the US Attorney's Office for Southern District of New York (SDNY) has been:

1) Over the years, a feeder for the Deep State, and

2) Most particularly, a thorn in the side for the Trump administration.

The article itself characterizes the USAO as:

known for its fierce independence and ... once described as a steppingstone for law’s best and brightest. Its alumni have gone on to become F.B.I. directors, New York police commissioners, a United States attorney general, Supreme Court justices and partners at New York’s premier law firms.

FBI Directors, the law's best and brightest? Oh, that would include the disgraced former FBI Director Jim Comey, but that's omitted. Nevertheless, you get the picture.

In particular, the NYT seemed to find the opinion "unusual" because it came, more or less, on the heels of the Trump/Barr ouster in June of then USA Geoffrey S. Berman. If you want to refresh your recollection regarding that episode, I refer you to The Meaning Of The Berman Firing. That post quotes at length from a blog entitled The US Is In A Civil War (And Why Berman's Firing Matters), as well as other commenters who saw the importance of what was going on. It's worth the time to reprise that episode.

While the planned replacement for Berman was thwarted, Berman was removed. So, with that in mind, get a load of this ... Oh, and don't forget that another hearing in the Flynn case is coming up.

UPDATED: Bill Barr Is Still On The Job

AG Bill Barr's impeachment by the Dem's House may be imminent, but he continues to imperturbably do his job. It's almost like he just doesn't care about anything except the common good of the American nation. Refreshing.

Item: Some jerk named Jason Charter has been arrested as an Antifa leader who was in charge of the attempt to topple Andrew Jackson. He apparently has also been identified as a ringleader in the assault on Jack Posobiec. Who thinks that if enforcement of the law with regard to Antifa were left to Chris Wray at the FBI this would be happening? I don't. What other AG of recent memory would be willing to get in the Dem House's face in this way while they threatened his impeachment?

Item: Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's groomer and procurer, has been arrested by the FBI. The indictment is said to target the years 1994-1997 (wait, who was president then?), and Techno Fog promises a thread on why those years are important.

Sean Davis asks an interesting question about the timing of the arrest:

Is it just a coincidence that a mere two weeks after Attorney General Bill Barr fired Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York, that the FBI and DOJ finally arrested and charged Jeffrey Epstein's madam?

Believe this or not, but there are actually people out there on the internet who don't believe this was a coincidence! Not only that, but the same people are asking questions like: What else was Berman holding up? Who else thinks Chris Wray never would have done anything like this, but for Barr? How many AGs never moved against Epstein's operation over the past 20 years?

Does this tell us something about why the Dems were so irate about Berman's removal?

By the way, how did Ghislaine Maxwell wind up in Bradford, NH--population 356? Was she there to see the Bement Covered Bridge, or ... what? Gotta be a story there.

In the meantime, employment numbers for the Trump recovery are stunning.

ADDENDUM: I'm not actually that interested in this case from any legal standpoint, but Jonathan Turley is--and I'll share that interest:

Maxwell's arrest could be bad news for a number of individuals including Prince Andrew. One wrinkle however is the outrageous plea deal struck by the Justice Department with Epstein that purportedly protects "co-conspirators."

Epstein Confidante Maxwell Arrested In New Hampshire

"In a surprising move, Ghislaine Maxwell, the British heiress and confidante to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein, has been arrested in New Hampshire. Maxwell’s arrest  could have a ripple effect on both criminal and civil matters ranging from the still uncertain status of Prince Andrew to a number of defamation lawsuits."

... That deal however was not lawfully executed by Jim [sic--should be Alex] Acosta who did a great disservice not only to justice but more importantly these victims. Ironically, the improper role played by the Justice Department in the case may actually help it now with any prosecution of Maxwell.

We now have the indictment. Any problem with the Acosta deal made be avoided by not just attacking the validity of the agreement, as noted, but reliance on multiple perjury counts stemming from depositions (which would not be impacted by the agreement, even if enforceable).

Six counts:

Count 1-2: Enticement of a Minor To Travel To Engage In Illegal Sex Acts
Count 3-4:  Transportation Of A Minor With Intent To Engage In Criminal Sexual Activity
Count 5-6: Perjury

Turley thinks Berman wasn't holding anything up re Epstein/Maxwell. That's very charitable of him, given the past history of unusual legal proceedings and deals in this case.

UPDATE: Well, there is a story about Bradford, NH, and Maxwell. It sounds like she may have been hiding out there, while rumors put her in Paris. Per Techno Fog:

Ghislaine Maxwell - new info from the US Detention Memo: 

1) The grand jury returned the indictment on 6/29/20 

2) Maxwell has 15+ bank accounts. Some hold more than $20 million. 

3) Transfers of millions $$ to/from Epstein 

4) Cash purchase of 156 acre NH Property in 2019

According to the detention memo:

Most recently, the defendant appears to have been hiding on a 156-acre property acquired in an all-cash purchase in December 2019 (through a carefully anonymized LLC) in Bradford, New Hampshire, an area to which sha has no other known connections.

Geoffrey Berman's Ukraine-Biden Connection Surfaces

Maybe Geoffrey Berman should have just bowed out semi-gracefully. The idea that Berman's ouster was only about De Blasio's meanness to religious New Yorkers was always a bit difficult to accept. There's no possible way that Berman was not in Trump or Barr's sights, given what John Solomon has turned up:

Fired NY prosecutor was given Biden-Ukraine allegations in 2018 but didn’t follow up, emails show

Ukraine prosecutors didn't want the political spectacle that became impeachment and simply sought to turn over evidence about Joe Biden and election interference to U.S. prosecutors, memos show.

This story is detail rich, so I'll ask you to follow the link, above, after the intro. However, it does tend to confirm Tom Luongo's contention that the SDNY is a key Deep State ally. The fake impeachment simply could not have happened without this kind of help. It all shows that what's needed is a sprawling investigation. No wonder Barr says it will continue after the election:

Could the impeachment scandal have been prevented if the now-fired U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman had followed up on Ukrainian allegations about Joe Biden and his family in 2018? 

That’s the tantalizing question raised by emails from fall 2018 between an American lawyer and the chief federal prosecutor in Manhattan that were obtained by Just the News. 

The memos show that well before Ukrainian prosecutors reached out to Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s lawyer, in 2019 to talk about the Bidens and alleged 2016 election interference they first approached Berman’s office in New York in October 2018 via another American lawyer. 

The memos show Little Rock, Ark., lawyer Bud Cummins, a former U.S. attorney himself, reached out at least five times in October 2018 to Berman seeking to arrange a meeting with then-Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko. 

Lutsenko, who emerged as a key figure in the impeachment scandal, wanted to confidentially share with federal prosecutors in New York evidence he claimed to possess that raised concerns about the Bidens’ behavior as well as alleged wrongdoing in the Paul Manafort corruption case. 

“Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko is offering to come to U.S. meet with high-level law enforcement to share the fruits of investigations within Ukraine which have produced evidence of two basic alleged crimes,” Cummins wrote Berman on Oct. 4, 2018, one day after the two had talked on the phone about the allegations. 

The allegations included that Joe Biden had “exercised influence to protect Burisma Holdings” after his son Hunter and his son’s business partner Devon Archer had joined the Ukrainian gas company’s board of directors and “substantial sums of money were paid to them,” Cummins wrote.