Donald Trump has some competition for today’s most important legal news. First off, DOJ sued Apple, alleging that iPhone “monopoly power” violates antitrust statutes. DOJ is joined by 15 state attorneys general and district attorneys in the civil lawsuit, which accuses Apple of harming consumers by limiting competition.
Antitrust lawsuits are complicated, so DOJ tells a story in the opening paragraph of its complaint, which illustrates what the case is about: “In 2010, a top Apple executive emailed Apple’s then-CEO about an ad for the new Kindle e-reader. The ad began with a woman who was using her iPhone to buy and read books on the Kindle app. She then switches to an Android smartphone and continues to read her books using the same Kindle app. The executive wrote to Jobs: one “message that can’t be missed is that it is easy to switch from iPhone to Android. Not fun to watch.” Jobs was clear in his response: Apple would “force” developers to use its payment system to lock in both developers and users on its platform. Over many years, Apple has repeatedly responded to competitive threats like this one by making it harder or more expensive for its users and developers to leave than by making it more attractive for them to stay.” Cases like this take a long time—years—to play out unless one or both sides are highly motivated to work towards a settlement, so don’t expect to see any quick resolution on this one. If you want to take a look at the complaint in the meantime, you’ll find it here: https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24492020/doj-apple-antitrust-complaint.pdf That’s not all DOJ has been busy doing. Six former Mississippi law enforcement officers were sentenced to prison this week for torturing and abusing two Black men in Rankin County, Mississippi. Federal Judge Tom Lee sentenced the defendants to terms in prison ranging from 10 to 40 years. For comparison, Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who murdered George Floyd was sentenced to 21 years in prison, which gives you a sense of how serious the Mississippi case is. The defendants kicked in the door of a home where two Black men were residing without a search warrant and then handcuffed them and tased them while taunting them with racial slurs. One of the defendants fired his gun in the mouth of one of the victims, breaking his jaw. After that and while the victim lay bleeding on the floor, the defendants stepped aside to coordinate their cover up story. According to court documents, the defendants admitted to being part of a self-described “Goon Squad” of Rankin County, Mississippi, law enforcement officers who were known for using excessive force and not reporting it. One of the leaders warned the others in advance of their raid, “No bad mugshots,” a warning that they should be careful not to leave any injuries that would show up in a mugshot. The charged case was not the only instance of criminal conduct by the former law enforcement officers. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division continues to quietly do the people’s work in the parts of the country where they are most needed. Of course, there is also Trump legal news today. In preparation for Tuesday, when she can begin collection efforts if Trump fails to get a bond by Monday, New York Attorney General Tish James formally registered the judgment against him in Westchester County, New York, just outside Manhattan, earlier this month. That could signal that James is looking at possible seizures of properties Trump has there including Trump National Golf Course in Briarcliff Manor and Seven Springs. Trump has to be frustrated by James’ unrelenting pursuit of justice. Meanwhile, Judge Engoron issued an order today to create an “enhanced monitorship” of the Trump Organization for three years, putting it in the hands of the existing monitor, retired Judge Barbara Jones. Trump will have to provide her with information about day-to-day operations that she didn’t previously have access to. Among Jones’ new tasks is preparing a report that describes current internal controls and recommends proper ones to ensure the long-term fraud comes to a stop. Jones now makes the rules for Trump’s preparation of financial disclosures to third parties, reviews his monthly bank statements, and pre-approves transactions involving more than $5 million in assets. The Trump Organization also has to inform Judge Jones of any efforts to obtain a surety bond. If she observes “any material misstatements, misrepresentations, or omissions,” she is to immediately report them to the Court. Overall, the order gives the impression that Judge Engoron is serious about making sure that there is meticulous oversight of the Trump Organization going forward.
Back in November 2022, when the Judge asked Trump’s lawyers and the Attorney General’s office for the names of possible monitors to oversee Trump’s business activities while the litigation was ongoing, both sides suggested Jones, a highly respected retired federal judge. That makes it tough for Trump to credibly complain that Jones is biased against him. In Manhattan, it looks like Trump’s complaints about discovery violations by prosecutors in the criminal case are falling apart now that the District Attorney has had the opportunity to respond. It’s complicated because it’s the Manhattan DA that is prosecuting Trump, not federal prosecutors who have an obligation to provide Trump with discovery materials. But because the DA’s office suspected the feds would have some documents with bearing on their case, particularly ones about statements made by Michael Cohen, a witness for the DA who was formerly prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, they went to them over a year ago with a request for anything they could turn over. The DA provided Trump with those items. But then Trump sent a subpoena to the U.S. Attorney’s Office that resulted in a mountain of documents being produced earlier this month and allegations by Trump of misconduct. It turns out that there were fewer than 300 new documents in the materials federal prosecutors sent Trump and the key point is that they weren’t in that office’s possession when the Manhattan DA’s office made their request earlier. The documents were part of the investigation conducted by Special Counsel Mueller and were only recently sent to the Southern District by another office. Today, the Manhattan DA wrote to the Judge that “Enough is enough. These tactics by defendant and defense counsel should be stopped. A Grand Jury of regular New Yorkers indicted Donald Trump on thirty-four felony counts of falsifying business records to conceal criminal efforts to corrupt the 2016 presidential election. This Court held that the evidence supported those charges. The People respectfully urge this Court to reject defendant's motion in its entirety.” They continued, suggesting that the case should go to trial on the schedule suggested by the Court last week, which would mean somewhere around April 15, and that “Defendant's motion and subsequent filings are a transparent attempt to shift the focus away from his own criminal conduct by pursuing remedies to which he is not entitled, including dismissal, a lengthy adjournment, and preclusion of evidence.” It doesn’t look like Trump has anything substantial here. We’ll watch to see if there’s anything but shouting left for the hearing on Monday, but unless there is more, expect the Judge to reset trial in this case in the next future, maybe on April 15, the date he suggested in his letter last week. Tax day is usually pretty gloomy, but this year, it could be a big day in court. That’s where we are as we approach the end of the week. We’re in this together, Joyce |
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