Justice Matters with Glenn Kirschner

Trump-appointed judge Aileen Cannon is unfit to preside over Donald Trump's criminal case in Florida. In a new piece for MSNBC - Glenn explains some of the data points that prove Judge Cannon's "impartiality might reasonably be questioned," such that the federal law mandates that she "shall disqualify herself form the case." As if to prove the point, The New York Times has reported that Judge Cann...

Another of Donald Trump's criminal flunkies - Steve Bannon - is now headed to prison on July 1st, given the Supreme Court has rejected his request to delay the commencement of his 4-month prison term. Bannon was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying congressional subpoenas to testify and to provide documents about the January 6th attack on the US Capitol which was designed to...

Judge Jaun Merchan modified the gag order he had placed on Donald Trump. The gag order no longer prohibits Trump from talking about witnesses and jurors in his case. However, it remains in effect to protect court staff, prosecutors and their staff, and their respective family members. Needless to say, it's concerning that the witnesses and jurors are now unprotected from Trump's reckless, dangerou...

Judge Aileen Cannon continues to give defendant Donald Trump - the very person who gave her her lifetime appointment as a federal judge - the delay he so covets. She continues to litigate frivolous motions that are forever being filed by Trump's attorneys, in an apparent attempt to delay Trump's federal prosecution in Florida as long as she can. Glenn discusses how judges nearly always set trial d...

During an interview with Donald Trump for his biography called "Apprentice in Wonderland", he stated that comedian Joan Rivers voted for him in 2016, because "that's what she said". The problem is, Ms. Rivers passed away in 2014. Donald Trump is a liar, a conman, a grifter, a rapist, and a cheat. According to Glenn, given the number of voters (including self-described Trump supporters) who have pe...

Special Counsel Jack Smith has filed another motion imploring Judge Aileen Cannon to modify Donald Trump's conditions of release to impose a gag order to protect law enforcement agents from Trump's continued lies and violence-inducing rhetoric. Glenn reviews the new court filing and discusses why gag orders will likely continue to be inadequate to address the danger that Donald Trump poses to othe...

Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Canon held an all-day hearing on a largely frivolous issue raised by Donald Trump's attorneys. At the end of the hearing, instead of ruling on the motion, Judge Cannon ordered supplemental briefs to be filed, injecting further unnecessary delay into the case. And Cannon has steadfastly refused to set a trial date. On the eve of Friday's motions, The New York Times publ...

Donald Trump's lawyers keep getting indicted. Two of his former lawyers, Boris Epshteyn and Jenna Ellis just pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges in Arizona state court involving, in substance, crimes they are alleged to have committed to try to help Donald Trump steal the 2020 presidential election. Glenn answers the question: why did Jenna Ellis plead not guilty when she already pleaded gui...

Every single judge (trial court judges, appellate court judges, state court judges, and federal court judges) who has ruled on the various gag orders placed on defendant Donald Trump, has ruled that the orders were appropriate, lawful, and constitutional. Indeed, New York's highest court has refused to take up Trump's appeal on the gag order issue. But alas, Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon is...

As a recent USA Today article makes clear: "As a convicted felon, Trump isn't fit to lead America's military as Commander in Chief". Convicted felons are generally not permitted to serve in the armed forces of the United States. It would be an absurdity, not to mention dangerous to the safety of our troops, if a convicted felon were allowed to be the Commander in Chief of America's armed forces. A...

Here we go again. We've seen this exact nightmare movie before: Donald Trump signaling that he won't accept an election loss and refusing to rule out violence to get whatever he wants. It's like democracy is sitting there - stuck on the tracks and Trump is the dangerous, out-of-control train that refuses to stop. There is a way to derail the Trump train before we see a repeat of the January 6th, 2...

It defies comprehension that the person who incited an attack on the United States Capitol building and everyone who was in it on January 6, 2021, performing their constitutional duty of certifying the results of a presidential election, would have the temerity to return to the scene of his crime in hopes that he could regain the reigns of governmental power. What's worse, congressional Republican...

Donald Trump is claiming that the Department of Justice is being weaponized against Republicans. Glenn says the trial and guilty verdict of Hunter Biden proves otherwise. Note the recent CNN headline: "Hunter Biden conviction shatters Trump's persecution narrative." The way the Republicans and the Democrats have reacted to the Hunter Biden conviction and the Donald Trump conviction tells people ev...

Last week, Donald Trump was convicted of 34 felony crimes that he committed to try to gain unfair advantage in a presidential election. Throughout the pre-trial proceedings and the trial itself, Trump and his lackeys in Congress endlessly yammered about the trial being a witch hunt. Trump threatened and endangered everyone who was involved in the endeavor of holding him accountable for his crimes:...

Donald Trump sat for an interview with a New York probation officer who will prepare a pre-sentencing report to be used by Judge Juan Merchan in connection with Trump's sentencing. However, if we care about preserving free and fair American elections and deterring others from committing the crimes Trump committed - falsifying business records to gain unfair advantage in a presidential election - t...

The contrast between Donald Trump and President Joe Biden as far as the rule-of-law could not be more stark. As a HuffPost headline announces, "Trump Says Revenge 'Can Be Justified' In Latest Threat To Political Enemies." Contrary to Trump, President Biden has chosen the rule of law by declaring he will not pardon his son Hunter Biden in the event of a conviction, but rather, will accept and respe...

Accountability has finally come for Steve Bannon for his two contempt of Congress convictions. A jury convicted Bannon nearly two years ago, but Trump-appointed Judge Carl Nichols allowed Bannon to remain free pending appeal, contrary to the presumption in the law that a sentence is to be served while a defendant appeals his or her conviction. After a federal appeals court rejected Bannon's appeal...

On July 11th, Judge Juan Merchan will sentence Donald Trump on his 34 felony convictions. Just as is true in all criminal sentencing hearings, Judge Merchan will base his sentence in part, on whether Trump will take responsibility for his crimes. Indeed, after a conviction, accepting responsibility for one's crimes is the first step on the road to rehabilitation. If a defendant refuses to accept r...

Representatives Mike Johnson and Jim Jordan are trying to convince the American people that the Department of Justice has been weaponized against Republicans. They ignore the reality that, at this very moment, the DOJ is prosecuting Senator Bob Menendez, a Democrat, they just indicted Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, and the feds are prosecuting Hunter Biden, son of a president who is a . . . Democ...

During jury selection in Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York, some on the right, like Rep. Matt Gaetz, were celebrating - gloating even - when they learned that a gentleman designated "juror # 2" told the judge during jury selection that he gets his news from Truth Social. Matt Gaetz even tweeted, "LFG Juror #2!" Well, juror # 2, together with his 11 fellow jurors, voted unanimously to convi...

We have nearly 300,000 unsolved murders in the United States. That's 300,000 families who sit by the phone waiting for a call to come from a detective saying, "we've got a break in your loved one's case." These calls almost never come. When I retired from the Department of Justice, after decades of prosecuting murder cases in Washington, DC, I was determined to do something about that, and I propo...

In the aftermath of Trump's criminal conviction, his supporters are endangering the judge, the prosecutor and the jurors. As NBC News reported, " Trump supporters try to dox jurors and post violent threats after his conviction." It's time to put a stop to Trump's dangerous, violence-inducing rhetoric by sentencing Trump to prison. If you're interested in supporting our all-volunteer efforts, you c...

After a trial that lasted several weeks, a New York jury convicted Donald Trump in less than two days of deliberations. Some might say they convicted him in a New York minute. Glenn reviews the jury's guilty verdicts and discusses the upcoming sentencing and the likelihood of Judge Juan Merchan sentencing Trump to a period of incarceration. If you're interested in supporting our all-volunteer effo...

In further proof that Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon is hopelessly biased in favor of Donald Trump, Special Counsel Jack filed a motion asking Cannon to prohibit Trump from making false, violence-inducing statements that endanger FBI agents. But rather than address the obvious violence Trump poses to others, Cannon chided Smith for not "conferring" sufficiently with Trump's lawyers before fil...

Donald Trump is again telling dangerous, incendiary, violence-inducing lies. This time, his lies are about the FBI agents who executed the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. In a new court filing in Trump's federal prosecution in Florida, Special Counsel Jack Smith asks Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon to modify Trump's conditions of pretrial release to include a prohibition against him making "stat...