Monday, January 20, 2020

TEAM PELOSI VS. TEAM TRUMP – LET’S COMPARE THE ROSTERS

As the Trump Impeachment trial kicks off on Tuesday, 21 January 2020, it might be interesting to take a look at the relative strengths of each team.  Below I have compiled a thumbnail sketch of each member of Team Pelosi and Team Trump.  From a quick review of each team’s rosters, it appears that, to use a football analogy, Team Trump would be LSU playing Team Pelosi who would be Northern Virginia Community College (if NOVA had a team).  A less impressive gaggle of lawyers has never been assembled in one tight shot group then that bunch that paraded across the Capitol Rotunda on 17 January to deliver the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate.


Led by Adam Schiff who has only eight years of trial experience but has not practiced law in 26 years and Jerry Nadler who went to night law school but never even passed the bar exam, the rest of the crowd is even less impressive. Most who are actually lawyers haven’t practiced in years and the only one that has, Jason Crow, specialized in helping companies develop processes to handle instances of sexual harassment and workplace discrimination. He was not an experienced trial attorney.



Now compare that to the impressive credentials of the skilled litigators assembled by Jay Sekulow to defend Trump.  Most are widely recognized legal legends with years of courtroom experience and reputations for hardnosed grilling of witnesses.



If you don’t believe Team Pelosi is grossly out matched by Team Trump, I have assembled the below thumbnail sketches of the members of each team along with links so you can research them for yourself.  Look for yourself:



Team Pelosi






Law School:  Harvard Law School 1985



Legal experience:   Actually practiced law 6 years but has not been in a courtroom in 26+ years; Law clerk for 2 years for Judge William Matthew Byrne Jr. of the United States District Court for the Central District of California (1985-1987); an Assistant United States Attorney in the Office of the United States Attorney for the Central District of California (1987-1993).






Law School: Fordham Law School 1976 (night school)



Legal experience: None, never passed the NY Bar nor practiced Law.






Law School:  Santa Clara University School of Law 1975.



Legal Experience:  2 years practicing immigration law, has not practice law in 42+ years.






Law School: New York University School of Law 1997




Legal experience:  Has not practice any law, even corporate law, in 14+ years. Clerk, Judge Harold Baer, Southern District of New York, United States District Court, 1998; 8 years practicing corporate law representing CBS, Viacom, etc.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Val_Demings



Law School:  None



Legal Experience: None






Law School: Texas Southern University Law School (night school) 1978 – Ranks #191 of 200 US Law Schools with average LSAT scores of 144.



Legal Experience: Has not been associated with the practice of law in 22 years. Five Terms as a municipal court judge ending 1998.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Crow



Law School: University of Denver Law School, 2009



Legal Experience:  8 years practicing law, early legal work defending white-collar crime, then specialized helping companies develop processes to handle instances of sexual harassment and workplace discrimination.



Team Trump






Law School: Mercer University Law School, 1980




Legal Experience: Trial attorney, Internal Revenue Service Office of Chief Counsel; Since 1988 he has been associated with and legal counsel for conservative activist organizations such as ACLJ and CASE and has argued 12 cases before the US Supreme Court. The National Law Journal has twice name him one of the 100 most influential lawyers in America. More importantly, he is frequently published and has a highly rated daily radio program and a weekly television show so is a polished media performer.  All that said, he does have his detractors and several questionable business dealings in his past.






Law School: University of Chicago Law School, 1991




Legal Experience:  Law clerk for Judge Danny Boggs of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (1991–1992);  assistant to the US Attorney General (1992–1993); since then a law firm partner where he was a highly successful commercial litigator as evidences by his reported 2017-2018 income of $6.7 Million.






Law School: Duke University School of Law,




Legal Experience:  Law clerk to Fifth Circuit Judge David W. Dyer (1973-1974), Law Clerk to Chief Justice Warren Burger (1975–1977), Private practice (1977-1981), Counselor to U.S. attorney general (1981–1983), United States Circuit Judge for the District of Columbia Circuit (1983-1989), 39th Solicitor General of the United States (1989–1993). From 1994 – 1998 led numerous investigations into White House incidents (e.g. Whitewater, Vincent Foster, Travelgate, Filegate) culminating in 1998 as the Independent Counsel for the Impeachment of President William J. Clinton resulting in Clinton’s Senate acquittal but five-year suspension of his law license; Dean of Pepperdine University School of Law (2004-2010); President and Chancellor Baylor University (2010 -  2016).






Law School: Stetson University Law School, 1990



Legal Experience: prosecutor and Assistant State Attorney Hillsborough County, Florida (1992-2009); Florida's 37th attorney general and first woman (2010-2018); unable to run again because of term limits.






Law School:  Washington and Lee University Law School,
1985



Legal Experience:  Law clerk to Frank X. Altimari, Second Circuit Judge (1986-1989);Ffederal prosecutor Assistant United States Attorney from the Southern District of New York, Organized and Violent Crime Unit (1989-1995), New York Times described him as “an aggressive prosecutor with an enviable rate of success”; detailed to the Office of Independent Counsel 1995; served successively as Chief Associate Independent Counsel, Counselor to the Independent Counsel, and Deputy Independent Counsel; in October 1999, replaced Kenneth W. Starr as independent counsel to wrap up the investigation of President William Jefferson Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton.






Law School:  Boston College Law School, 1980


Legal Experience:  Private practice (1980-1983);  Department of Justice trial attorney with the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section’s Boston Strike Force investigating and prosecuting major organized crime cases including convicting the underboss of the New England mafia (1983-1986); appointed Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division advising on sensitive cases, policy, and assisted in the supervision of criminal investigations and prosecutions nationwide; served as First Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts; a litigation partner in a prominent DC law office; joined with her husband, another very prominent attorney, to form Raskin & Raskin, a practice specializing in white collar criminal matters and related administrative and civil action; reputation for “laboring for years in the legal trenches, establishing a long track record of successfully defending clients in white-collar federal criminal prosecutions” according to the New York Times.





Law School: Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, 1987


Legal Experience: Assistant district attorney and senior investigative and trial counsel for the New York County District Attorney’s Office 1987-1983; Vice president and legal counsel of the investigations department at Citibank, N.A.; since 1996 a partner at Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, a law firm that has represented Trump in numerous cases over the last 15 years; also has many outside business interests.





Law School: Yale Law School, 1962



Legal Experience:  Law clerk for David L. Bazelon, chief
judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1962-1963); Law clerk for Supreme Court Associate Justice Arthur Goldberg (1963-1964); faculty Harvard Law School assistant professor (1964), full professor (1967); appointed Felix Frankfurter professor of law (1993); legal career focused on criminal law, high-profile clients included: Patty Hearst, Harry Reems, Leona Helmsley, Jim Bakker, Mike Tyson, Michael Milken, O.J. Simpson, Kirtanananda Swami and reportedly Nelson Mandela; retired Harvard Law in Dec 2013, now Professor Emeritus.

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