I once read a book about John Adams. Honestly he was one of our founding fathers and - a true American. But he stood by those principles and defended as legal counsel, those British soldiers who shot American citizens when they were brought before a court. Indeed.. In America every accused is innocent until proven guilty. And they deserve the best legal defense team or lawyer.
As an aside… I bet you don’t realize (most Americans are clueless).. that of course France, and MEXICO follow the French system of justice.. You are guilty until proven innocent. Thus.. my Dad told us.. if you ever get in a car wreck in Mexico, leave the scene and get away. They will arrest you on the spot. And then he gave me a card- signed by the chief of police in Reynosa Mexico basically saying - Let this guy go.. he is a friend..That is how justice works in Mexico. Yes, Daddy was a friend of the Chief - had sold him a Buick back in the 1960s there in Edinburg Texas.
Also remember the US military member that was driving his civilian car (with a gun in it) close to the border in California and the signage was inferior and he took a wrong turn and ended up with his car passing into Mexico (they don’t have a river designating the border like Texas.) He ended up in a Mexican prison and a guy named Donald J. Trump paid the “mordida———” thousands of dollars to get him released back into the USA. Pinche US Media seems to have forgotten that!
And now.. we have this..
Why Donald Trump Cannot
Get a Top-Tier Lawyer
By: Alan M. Dershowitz
Gatestone Institute
June 15, 2023
Former President Donald Trump has now been arraigned and pleaded not guilty. He was represented by two lawyers, neither of whom he apparently wants to lead his defense at trial. He has been interviewing Florida lawyers, and several top ones have declined. I know, because I have spoken to them. There are disturbing suggestions that among the reasons lawyers are declining the case is because they fear legal and career reprisals.
There is a nefarious group that calls itself The 65 Project that has as its goal to intimidate lawyers into not representing Trump or anyone associated with him. They have threatened to file bar charges against any such lawyers. When these threats first emerged, I wrote an op-ed offering to defend pro bono any lawyers that The 65 Project goes after. So The 65 Project immediately went after me, and contrived a charge based on a case in which I was a constitutional consultant, but designed to send a message to potential Trump lawyers: if you defend Trump or anyone associated with him, we will target you and find something to charge you with. The lawyers to whom I spoke are fully aware of this threat -- and they are taking it seriously.
There may be other reasons as well for why lawyers are reluctant to defend Trump. He is not the easiest client, and he has turned against some of his previous lawyers, as some of his previous lawyers have turned against him. This will be a difficult case to defend and an unpopular one with many in the legal profession and in the general population.
Good lawyers, however, generally welcome challenges, especially in high-profile cases. This case is different: the threats to the lawyers are greater than at any time since McCarthyism. Nor is the comparison to McCarthyism a stretch. I recall during the 1950s how civil liberties lawyers, many of whom despised communism, were canceled and attacked if they dared to represent people accused of being communists. Even civil liberties organizations stayed away from such cases, for fear that it would affect their fundraising and general standing in the community. It may even be worse today, as I can attest from my own personal experiences, having defended Trump against an unconstitutional impeachment in 2020. I was canceled by my local library, community center, and synagogue. Old friends refused to speak to me and threatened others who did. My wife, who disagreed with my decision to defend Trump, was also ostracized. There were physical threats to my safety.
Our system of justice is based on the John Adams standard. He, too, was attacked for defending the British soldiers accused of the Boston Massacre, but his representation of these accused killers now serves as a symbol of the 6th Amendment right to counsel. That symbol has now been endangered by The 65 Project and others who are participating in its McCarthyite chilling of lawyers who have been asked to represent Trump and those associated with him.
Trump's lawyers have now alleged that one of the prosecutors has suggested to Stanley Woodard, the lawyer for Waltine Nauta, Trump's co-defendant, that his application for judgeship may be negatively affected if he persists in defending Nauta vigorously rather than encouraging him to cooperate against Trump. If that is true – I have not seen the evidence to support it – then it represents a direct attack on the 6th Amendment.
Whatever one may think of Trump or the charges against him, all Americans must stand united against efforts to intimidate lawyers and chill them from defending unpopular clients pursuant to the 6th Amendment. Bar associations must look into the threats and actions of The 65 Project and of prosecutors who try, by subtle or other means, to influence the representation of clients by threats to their careers or other means.
Hard cases may make bad law, but partisan cases endanger constitutional rights. We must do everything to assure that all defendants, including Donald Trump, get the zealous representation to which the Constitution entitled all Americans.