DL Open Thread Monday May 23 2022
Let’s see. A Judge rules that Park City Kathy’s multiple confessions of wrongdoing* on her personal lap top can’t be used because State Police digital forensics (it is suddenly and conveniently revealed) sucks ass. Just around the same time Pete Schwartzkopf is rumored to be going around Rehoboth and Lewes saying that he has 100% faith in Park City and the AG really isn’t his cup of tea. I wonder if these things are connected somehow? Hmmm…?
*How can I say with such confidence that KMcG’s laptop contain multiple confessions of wrongdoing? That’s a cinchey question to answer. She still doesn’t think that any of the crimes she committed were actual crimes. Not crimes for rich, well connected white people anyway. She was perfectly at peace with what she did, so there’s never been any reason to attempt a coverup. Just in the course of her normal correspondence the structuring of contracts, for example, is no doubt mentioned as a simple common sense.
Translating media’s “both sides” gibberish into regular english
@TopherSpiro46
Republican opposition to COVID funding will force unacceptable tradeoffs. And we’re facing the unthinkable: not enough vaccines.
Quote Tweet
@NewsHour·
The White House is planning for “dire” contingencies that could include rationing supplies of vaccines and treatments this fall if Congress doesn’t approve more money for fighting COVID-19. to.pbs.org/3G9jk7u
Biden cannot end Title 42 & furthermore it is illegal for Democratic Presidents to Govern:
A federal judge in Louisiana on Friday prevented the Biden administration fromreopening the borders to migrants and asylum seekers,a position backed by 24 states pressing concerns about the costs of illegal immigration and the spread of covid-19.
U.S. Judge Robert Summerhays issued a preliminary injunction, siding with states that argued the expected border influx would impose costs on them for services such as health care and education.
“These costs are not recoverable,” the judge wrote. “The Plaintiff States thus satisfy the irreparable harm requirement for a preliminary injunction.”
He said the government could have considered the states’ concerns and perhaps devised an alternative to a “blanket” order that ended Title 42.
Non of Biden’s orders can be sustained and none of Trump’s can ever be ended. This is based on the very well established legal precedent of “LOL, FUCK YOU!”
Once again… Heck of a job pushing through all those Trump judges, Senator Chris Coons.
X
What I wouldn’t give for one great investigative reporter a la Chad Livengood to dig into all of this corruption among key political leaders in our state.
Let’s look at the analysis of these laptops. From Randall Chase’s article:
I have no problem thinking the cops slow-walked the decryption.
But once you decrypt a laptop, that’s not the end of the job. You have to search all the files. You are a familiar with how to look at files on your computer through your Windows Explorer or Mac Finder. But those don’t show you files that have been deleted. When you delete a file, it’s not really gone, it’s like throwing away its card in the card catalog (boomer reference). It’s still on your computer, but it’s lost in the library and you need special tools to find it.
A forensic reporting tool will list ALL the files on the disk, whether it’s card is in the card catalog or not. This is how people get convicted for possession of child porn even if they deleted the file.
No doubt some exclusion inserted into the legislation to protect white-collar criminals. Thanks, Beau.
I also have no problem believing the state police techs are inept, relying on people’s unfamil-arity with technical stuff. This is how Richard Korn got acquitted – the tech evidence could not stand up to a robust defense.
So… Why didn’t Jennings know or suspect that the police would, for one reason or another, not deliver the evidence against their BFF?
I don’t know if it is permissible, but Jennings really should have used an outside expert instead of the state police unit.
Knock me over with a feather: Leaders of Southern Baptist Convention committed Catholic Church-like cover-up of sexual abuse:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/05/22/southern-baptist-sex-abuse-report/
There’s more.
So the cops turned over decrypted labtops, but were legally barred from using their search tools to produce a forensic file list.
So what did Jennings actually turn over to the defense for discovery?
(“filter team” reviews first, to make sure the defense’s client-attorney privileged info isn’t turned over to prosecutors).
Sounds like Jennings handed over a hot mess for discovery.
So a proper forensic search report would at a minimum list the files by file type (Word, Excel, .jpg, png, etc) and allow you to sort the list by date created, date last modified, date last accessed, and probably more stuff I don’t know about.
More questions:
– Were these laptops backed up onto any state servers? If they were state laptops they likely would be backed up on state servers.
– Or were any files backed up onto commercial cloud services?
– Were any of the files in question sent as attachments over state email?
A deeper forensic search of the laptops can lead to some of these answers. I don’t think the AG has that expertise in-house.
Here’s a more simple question: Why wasn’t KMcG compelled to decrypt the laptop? Technically, SHE was denying discovery to the prosecution.
I’m pretty sure that’s covered under Fifth Amendment. If the laptop is state owned though that might be a muddier question.
But even if she did decrypt it, a forensic file analysis still requires special tools and expertise.
There appears to be mixed caselaw for a personal laptop (and maybe that’s what we are talking about), but there is pretty much no expectation of privacy for a government owned computer used by an elected official.
And by “compelled” I’m talking about a court-order which means that there would be clear documentation of when the files were decrypted and a realistic communication to the judge as to when the files would be available for sharing with the defense.
Two of the laptops were personal. I found the text of the opinion which answers some of my questions, but I won’t bore readers with more of my wisdom:
https://casetext.com/case/state-v-mcguiness-4
Still looks like a lack of knowledge and preparedness on the AG’s part on how to proceed with technical evidence (and failure to anticipate the perfidy of the kop kabal). Which is a problem not just for the McG case but for any white-collar prosecution.
“Just around the same time Pete Schwartzkopf is rumored to be going around Rehoboth and Lewes saying that he has 100% faith in Park City and the AG really isn’t his cup of tea.”
Pete’s priorities and the cops’ priorities are exactly the same. That’s why cops are coming out of the woodwork to run for the House. It’s why cops would run interference for KMG.
So much corruption, so little investigation into the corruption. EXCEPT from the AG’s office. Which is why Jennings isn’t Pete’s ‘cup of tea.’
The question I have is does this evidence make a difference? Park City was indicted by a grand jury in October. The laptops were obtained after the indictment.
The trial is scheduled to start next week. Is any side seeking a continuance?
“The laptops were obtained after the indictment.”
All the more reason to obtain a proper forensic analysis especially including deleted files.
And btw usual police procedure, for the unwashed masses, is to seize the computers with a warrant prior to indictment.
From what it looks like the AGs office doesnt seem very adept at forming a strong prosecution. What is Jennings record on actual prosecutions?
More Stoopid Wussy Democratic Trix:
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/23/henry-cuellar-abortion-house-democrats-primary-00034288
Only ‘Squad’ members stand up for Cisneros against anti-abortion incumbent.