'Legal loophole': MSNBC’s Hasan explains 'the wonky rule' that could turn Clarence Thomas into Trump’s secret weapon

12 October 2022

MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan recently offered a detailed breakdown of how the U.S. Supreme Court's involvement in the U.S. Department of Justice's (DOJ) classified documents investigation could ultimately prove to be favorable for former President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, October 11, Hasan appeared on "All In with Chris Hayes" where he explained the circumstances surrounding the investigation.

"After Trump workshopped a number of outlandish lies, including the claim that the FBI planted the top secret documents at Mar-a-Lago, he decided to do what he always does: sue," Hasan said.

"So he went judge shopping to see if he could find a sycophant within our judicial system who would tie themselves into legal knots to give him the outcome, the cover he wanted," the journalist continued. "And it paid off. Trump was assigned right wing Judge Aileen Cannon, whom he himself appointed and who was confirmed by the Senate after he lost the last election. Cannon, a Federalist Society member, you'll be shocked to hear, quickly went to work dismantling basic legal logic on behalf of the guy who put her on the bench."

Hasan went on to offer a word of advice to Democratic lawmakers:

"Democrats, take note. This is why the federal judiciary is so important, and it is why Republicans like Mitch McConnell have dedicated their political careers to reshaping it in their image for at least the next generation. Because the law, sadly, tends to be whatever an unelected judge decides it is. Which is how you end up with a judge like Aileen Cannon issuing a legally dubious ruling, appointing a special master to review the documents at Trump's request, essentially blocking the executive branch via the Department of justice from reviewing its own documents."

Hasan continued, "Now, the government appealed that ruling, which legal experts called 'laughably bad' and 'untethered from the law.' And a Federal Court of Appeal seemed to agree, essentially blocking part of it from taking effect. But Trump was not satisfied with getting most of what he wanted."

Explaining how the U.S. Supreme Court ties in, Hasan said, "So, he put his lawyers to work again; this time appealing all the way to the Supreme Court. In fact, the appeal was written in such a narrow and specific way, constitutional law professor Steve Vladeck posited, quote, 'Trump demanded that his lawyers take this case to the Supreme Court, and they found the one argument they could make that was not factually or legally frivolous.'"

"Now, you might be asking why Donald Trump wanted to take this case all the way to the Supreme Court," he said, noting the legal loophole where U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomes could come into play.

"Well, there is this wonky rule on the Supreme Court," Hasan explained, "where individual justices handle emergency appeals from specific district courts, and the justice overseeing the 11th Circuit, whose decision Trump is appealing, is none other than Clarence Thomas."

He also further explained why Thomas poses a potential threat. "Now, in addition to being arguably the most conservative justice on the court, Thomas is also the husband of far-right activist Ginny Thomas, who, in addition to pushing bonkers QAnon conspiracy theories to Trump White House officials, also personally worked to try and help facilitate Trump's attempted coup, including participating directly in that possibly criminal fake electorate scheme."

Watch the video below or at this link.

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