June began Saturday in the nation’s capital, with one of those days so warm and dry, and atmospherically wonderful that it might have seemed like a dream — if Washington had not had an almost identical day Friday.
Washington
Why looming Georgia case could be most damaging to Donald Trump
Former President Donald Trump could be in a position next year where he is reelected president, convicted of federal crimes, and able to pardon himself.
But if Trump is convicted of state crimes in New York or Georgia, he would, as president, have little control over the penalties.
UP FOR DEBATE: WHERE TRUMP, DESANTIS, AND REST OF REPUBLICAN 2024 FIELD STAND ON KEY ISSUES
The 2024 Republican front-runner faces 40 counts in the federal case in Florida related to classified documents, four counts in the federal case in Washington, D.C., related to the 2020 election, and 34 counts in the local case in Manhattan related to hush money payments.
In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is widely expected to present her case against Trump and potentially several others to a grand jury as early as next week. Trump could face charges that include racketeering for seeking to reverse the 2020 election in Georgia, which he lost by a narrow margin.
At present, he could see a maximum penalty of several hundred years in prison for the current charges against him if convicted, though judges would determine the appropriate sentence.
Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, noted that Trump should also have a right to the full range of appeal options in each case.
“All of the cases involve novel or controversial elements,” Turley said. “It does not serve the country well to have those lingering questions when a court is ordering the incarceration of a former or sitting president.”
If he does become president again, many legal scholars appear to agree that the Constitution does not limit Trump from pardoning himself of federal convictions, but opinions become more varied on whether he can serve as president while in prison and whether he can therefore issue pardons from behind bars.
None of these scenarios have historic precedent, but regardless of what happens at the federal level, Trump’s powers over the state judicial systems have clear limitations.
In New York, Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, would have the sole authority to pardon Trump.
In Georgia, Trump would have to apply for a pardon through a five-member state board five years after he has been indicted, convicted, and completed any sentences.
Turley said that, in his view, while the New York prosecution is an “utter mess” and that a conviction would be met with potentially years of “very significant challenges,” Georgia is more of an unknown.
“If Georgia is based largely on the famous phone call with Georgia officials, it would be a relatively weak prosecution,” he said. “The question is whether they have additional witnesses or evidence to present.”
Alan Dershowitz, a retired Harvard Law School professor who has defended a number of controversial clients, including Trump during his first impeachment, echoed Turley’s sentiments while speaking on his podcast the Dershow, this week.
He called the New York case the “worst indictment” he has “ever seen,” but he conceded that Georgia is a “very weak case unless there’s more to it.”
Should he be convicted there, Dershowitz said that one avenue Trump could pursue outside of seeking a pardon through the state board would be to argue the indictment, if it occurs, would be related to a federal election.
“It’s a state indictment about a federal matter,” Dershowitz said. “He might be able to get it dismissed from a state court, saying it’s really a federal matter.”
One final scenario, which would only apply in federal cases, could involve President Joe Biden preemptively pardoning Trump, similar to how President Gerald Ford pardoned President Richard Nixon after Watergate.
However, Biden is unlikely to have an interest in pardoning his political rival, especially while the legal processes in each case are underway.
Dershowitz asked, “Would it be better for America, would it be better to try to unify the country the way President Ford unified the country at great personal sacrifice to himself?”
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Dershowitz added, though, that maybe Trump would rather be acquitted than pardoned.
“Pardon implies maybe he was guilty,” he said.
Washington
June starts in D.C. as May ended, with a day of delight
The 81 degrees was a temperate sort of temperature, marking a day that seemed content to grant to barbecues to possess the undisputed right to sizzle, and to confine to food preparation any noticeable steaminess.
Saturday seemed a dry day in the most obvious sense, meaning that it did not rain, at least not through early evening. In the seeming absence of showers, or of their apparent likelihood, Saturday departed from a tradition established in May. Last month it rained on every Saturday, and on a couple of them it rained a lot.
But by early evening, D.C.’s first Saturday in June seemed to revoke the weekly permits for rain and clouds. Moreover, to the untrained eye, Saturday gave scarcely a sign that it would allow precipitation at night.
Clouds were indeed there on Saturday, but they seemed to be high clouds, perhaps five miles up, and thin, almost gauzy, as if made of some fragile fabric with strands that had been carefully teased apart.
Humidity, the unwelcome guest on many a warm day in Washington, seemed to make itself scarce. Such quantities as dew points and heat indexes often are cited as numerical explanations of warm weather discomfort. Although these quantities could be computed Saturday, they could readily be factored out of the comfort equation.
For example, at 2 p.m., with the mercury at 80 degrees, the dew point was recorded at more than 30 degrees below that. It was an almost absurdly low 49 degrees. In practice, it meant that no way existed to wring raindrops out of the uncharacteristically dry air.
East is east, and west is west, it is often said. But on Saturday, Washington seemed to show similarities to conditions often experienced near the other side of the continent. It seemed to display an uncommonly strong resemblance to sections of Southern California, at least in terms of meteorology.
In all of this, Saturday seemed to show its kinship with Friday, a day similar in so many ways. With a high temperature in the 70s, Friday was often described as an example of the sort of weather that should be summoned to the Washington area more often.
Washington
QB Sam Howell Admits ‘I Was a Little Too Aggressive’ With Washington Commanders
Quarterback Sam Howell filled his backup role as best he could while learning behind Washington Commanders quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke.
At the end of the Commanders’ 2022 season he got his first start against the Dallas Cowboys and immediately showed flashes of the talent that once had him projected to be a first-round pick in the NFL Draft.
READ MORE: Years Later Trent Williams Trade Still Haunts Washington
While Washington got Howell in the fifth round and waited 16 regular season games before giving him his first shot, the quarterback eventually started all 17 games in a four-win 2023 campaign that saw Howell sacked a league-high 65 times while throwing 21 interceptions.
“I think I could play some smarter ball. I think there were times where we were down big in some games, I was a little too aggressive just trying to make something happen trying to get us back in the game,” Howell said according to Jon Alfano of All Seahawks. “The turnovers are just way too high for what I wanted and what the team needed.”
“In this league to be able to play, you’ve got to compete and that’s what I’m willing to do, no matter what the situation is, no matter who the starter is.”
– Sam Howell, Seattle Seahawks Quarterback
It’s classic Howell to not let the blame land anywhere else but himself, but those who watched the Commanders closely last year know that it’s not all on the young quarterback. Perhaps more blame is owed to the coaching staff that has since departed, and then there’s some that needs to live with the roster around him.
Most of us here witnessing the launch of quarterback Jayden Daniels’ career still believe there’s a future NFL starter waiting in the wings in the Pacific Northwest. Even if Howell has to sit behind yet another more veteran quarterback while he waits for his next chance.
“In this league to be able to play, you’ve got to compete and that’s what I’m willing to do, no matter what the situation is, no matter who the starter is. If I’m the starter, I’m coming to compete every single day,” Howell told reporters Thursday . “Geno has been great. I’ve learned a lot from Geno and he’s a great player. I have a lot of respect for him and everything he’s been through in his career.”
Smith is almost the perfect quarterback to take a cast-out starter under his wing because he knows a thing or two about that situation. Even though Smith’s fall came from much higher heights, and is considered to be more about him than Howell’s departure from Washington is.
READ MORE: Logan Paulsen’s Early Takeaways from Quarterback Jayden Daniels
After being drafted No. 2 overall in the 2013 NFL Draft out of West Virginia, Smith spent four seasons with the New York Jets before eventually heading to the New York Giants, Los Angeles Chargers, and finally the Seattle Seahawks where he got his second chance at being a franchise quarterback.
Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.
Washington
Man slain, teen and second man wounded in Anacostia, police say
The juvenile female who was wounded was described by Carew as an older teenager.
No name was available for the man who was fatally wounded. The latest report on the two who were wounded indicated that both were conscious and breathing when taken to a hospital.
No information was immediately available about suspects or motive in the gunfire. Any connection between the three who were shot could not be learned immediately.
In another development, the death earlier this year of a man who was shot two years ago is being investigated as a homicide, police said Friday.
Cesar Barrera, 40, was shot May 10, 2022, in the 2500 block of Pomeroy Road SE and died of his wounds on Feb. 7 this year, the police said. An autopsy determined in May that he died of complications from gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, police said.
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