The Conservative Cave

Maduro Responds to Trump: the Venezuelan Navy Will Escort Oil Tankers

When the Congressional Black Caucus and 260 left-leaning organizations sent letters trying to prevent me from testifying before Congress, they claimed to be opposing efforts to “undermine civil institutions” and to prevent the use of “government power to silence people.”

This is deeply ironic because the House Judiciary Committee had invited me to testify on how the Southern Poverty Law Center, which demonizes conservatives and Christians in an effort to silence their opinions, influenced the Biden administration, leading to government attacks on nonprofits, such as the notorious FBI memo targeting “radical-traditional Catholics.”

I testified alongside leaders of organizations that had been targeted for violence after the SPLC put them on a “hate map” with Ku Klux Klan chapters. The hearing, “Partisan and Profitable: The SPLC’s Influence on Federal Civil Rights Policy,” focused on a key aspect of my writing and reporting, work that has distinguished me as an expert on the SPLC’s tactics.

The Congressional Black Caucus
Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., sent a letter expressing “grave concern” about the hearing, claiming that it is “not a good-faith exercise of oversight” but rather a “deliberate effort to intimidate and discredit an institution that has spent decades defending civil rights, exposing hate, and advancing opportunity for all Americans.” (Note how her framing endorses the SPLC’s “hate” accusations.)

Clarke claimed the hearing aimed “to chill and silence all who challenge this Administration’s efforts to roll back civil rights and normalize discrimination.”

The Congressional Black Caucus leader said the hearing represented “our government being weaponized to perpetrate cycles of oppression,” a weaponization “rooted in anti-black racism, discrimination, fear, and control.”

Today's is day four of the trial of Judge Hannah Dugan. Yesterday, the prosecution rested its case after calling 19 witnesses. My conclusion yesterday was that Judge Dugan seems to be in deep trouble. Yesterday ended with court reporter Joan Butz who clarified what she and Judge Dugan were saying in a whispered conversations about going out the non-public hallway. Specifically, Butz was concerned the attorney and her client might accidentally go out the "wrong" door. ...
...
Today the defense will present its witnesses. The word yesterday was that there would be just four witnesses for the defense so this should be over fairly quickly. First to take the stand today was Milwaukee County Judge Katie Kegel. She was asked about an email she had sent about federal officers making arrests inside the courtroom.

Quote

“People have been snatched out of my gallery," she wrote.

On cross-examination, Kegel said those arrests were in a drug case. Her testimony was brief.

Next up was Judge Laura Gramling Perez. She testified about an online training class held by Chief Judge Carl Ashley which related to ICE arrests in the courthouse.
...
So this defense witness confirmed that ICE could make arrests in the hallway but wanted some policy to be issued. However, no policy was issued (about arrests inside a courtroom). I'm not sure how this is helping Judge Dugan. Next to take the stand was Public Defender Maura Gingerich. She is the person who was taking photos of the arrest team in the hallway.

Quote

Asked why she did so, Gingerich testified she wanted to show the photos to her manager and head of the public defender's office, who could ask the chief judge for further guidance.

"It was stressful to see what I thought were a number of law enforcement agents on the sixth floor, not wearing uniforms," Gingerich testified.

The public defender is a progressive. Not a shock. But she testified she never spoke to Judge Dugan so, again, I'm not sure how this is helping Dugan's case. The defense is just calling people who didn't like ICE being in the hallway. ...

Next up was former Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. He testified as a character witness. He was not in the courthouse on April 18 when the incident took place.
...
... Judge Dugan will not testify in her own defense.

Quote

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Brown Watzka began her closing argument saying that judges aren't above the law.

“No judge may deem that her personal beliefs matter more than the law itself,” she said.
...
Brown Watzka argued that evidence showed Dugan knew why federal agents were at the courthouse when they said they had a warrant. She also argued that Dugan took "affirmative, physical action" to harbor or conceal Flores-Ruiz from authorities in two ways – when she ordered the federal arrest team out of a public hallway, and when she directed Flores-Ruiz and his attorney through a restricted hallway.

...
She wrapped up her argument by saying "no one is above the law." The entire closing argument lasted about 45 minutes. It was followed by a closing argument from Dugan's attorney, Jason Luczak.

Quote

Luczak called this an "unprecedented trial" and said the government has "the power to crush someone."

“They are trying to make an example of Hannah Dugan,” Luczak said. “They are trying to besmirch her honest reputation."
...
“Make no mistake,” he said. “This went all the way to the top.”

Dugan’s defense team has said the Trump administration is trying to make an example of the judge amid increased enforcement on illegal immigration.
...
Luczak claimed audio recordings from inside Dugan's courtroom on April 18 were manipulated and "melded together." He argued those recordings and accompanying transcripts were incomplete, hard to hear, confusing and not very good evidence.

...
Update: OMG! Even the judge is mocking her. After an hour of deliberating, the jury sent the judge a question. He had to return to his courtroom to read it. On the way in he made a joke.

Quote

He walked in where the public comes and goes.

"Came in the public entrance," the judge quipped, an apparent reference to the issue of how Eduardo Flores-Ruiz left Dugan's court.

The comment drew laughter from the attorneys. Dugan did not appear to laugh.