Flatirons Community Orchestra, season finale concert, 4p May 9, 1st Congregational United Church of Christ, Longmont. flatironscommunityorchestra.org/concerts/fal...
DaveC3- Manny Rutinel for CO CD 8
@davec3.solidarity.social
3.7K followers 3.6K following 4.2K posts
Married in CO, N95 wearer, progressive to radical, photographer & Union member. Views my own. Ban Congressional and Judical stock ownership no profile = BLOCK
![The Jan. 10 editorial “Jack Smith would have blown a hole in the First Amendment” was wrong to claim that Smith’s prosecution of Donald Trump for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 election would have violated Trump’s free-speech rights.
The Editorial Board wrote, “The indictment accused Trump of lying so pervasively about the election that he committed criminal fraud.” But the indictment explicitly acknowledged Trump was free to lie about the election and could not be prosecuted for lies alone. Those lies were tools Trump used in furtherance of alleged criminal conspiracies to defraud the government, obstruct a congressional proceeding and deprive citizens of their right to vote. Those crimes involved speaking, but speech in furtherance of criminal activity is not constitutionally protected. The board failed to acknowledge that the trial judge ruled the indictment “properly alleges [Trump’s] statements were made in furtherance of a criminal scheme” and thus did not violate the First Amendment.
The board also criticized Smith’s fraud theory, claiming that fraud “almost always involves dissembling for money, not political advantage.” But the Supreme Court has long recognized that a conspiracy to defraud the government does not require monetary loss.
The board further faulted Smith for seeking a gag order after Trump repeatedly attacked witnesses, prosecutors and the criminal process. But although it tweaked the order slightly, the appeals court agreed that limiting Trump’s speech was justified. The judge in Trump’s New York prosecution also found that a gag order was necessary.
Trump is trying to rewrite the history of Jan. 6, 2021. It’s disappointing to see The Post bolster that effort by casting him as the victim of a prosecutor who did not respect the Constitution.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:mse6dtbugyftomt372i4hklv/bafkreibfu5o2dbv2ooxnywc24gypwskcwcukz42fcrm4evdjlp5sh5rnua)
