Great analysis by Gene Rossi (who apparently is having some health challenges; definitely pulling for you, my friend!), who has “nearly three decades of criminal and civil litigation experience at the U.S. Department of Justice” as a federal prosecutor, including – starting in 2001 – as assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, where “he had a record 65 felony jury trials.” So, bottom line – when it comes to the Department of Justice, Eastern District of Virginia, criminal law, grand juries, etc., Gene Rossi really knows what he’s talking about. Which is why we should definitely pay attention to his thoughts on the indictment of Rossi’s “former EDVA colleague, SDNY U.S. Attorney, USDOJ DAG, and FBI Director–Jim Comey.” See below for Rossi’s Facebook post and video/highlights of his appearance last night on CNN.
PTI/ICYI. On September 26, I shared my thoughts (1:42 & 8:28) with CNN host Kaitlan Collins and fellow guests Elie Honig (nee SDNY AUSA) and former Chief U.S. District Judge John Jones III.
Topic? The indictment of my former EDVA colleague, SDNY U.S. Attorney, USDOJ DAG, and FBI Director–Jim Comey. Even a “novice” young prosecutor has a right to present a bare bones indictment–and disclose the meat on the bones later. However, this indictment, which in the end was presented by an inexperienced lower-level aide in the White House after the utterly outstanding career U.S. Attorney Erik Siebert (my former colleague) was summarily fired for following his ethical North Star, has severe osteoporosis.
Moreover, my broad comments included: “Bronston” perjury case; selective and vindictive prosecution motions; possible motion under an infamous DOJ tax case on grand jury abuse (“USA v. Bank of Nova Scotia”); the indictment return “Clown Show;” and “Junior Varsity.” And last, yet not least, I made a reference to the Rossi Lumber yard–a Connecticut venue where I developed a very salty and expletive-fueled vocabulary that I chose not use on the air.
Friday was quite a challenging and long day for me physically, medically, and professionally, but as a Fourth Quarter player, I ended it on a high note with this passionate appearance on CNN with Ms. Collins. Enjoy! Levity is Life!
Gene Rossi: “Is Donald Trump going to be the lead counsel in that prosecution and do the opening, closing and rebuttal? I pray that he does!…When you present a false statement or a perjury charge, you have to be precise, like a laser beam; and this indictment is all over the map, it’s like a kaleidoscope…There were three counts, the grand jury voted on three counts, and you need 12 out of 23 votes to get an approved count. On both counts that were approved it was 14-9, and on the other count was 12 votes no. I think that’s a red flag…if the grand jury does not like this case- and a ham sandwich can be indicted – if a grand jury doesn’t like it, when they get to a petit jury, a real jury in front of a judge and not just a playground where it’s just the prosecutor, a witness and the grand jurors, they are going to get their head handed to them on a platter…If a prosecutor presents a false or misleading information to a grand jury, either out of their own words…or through a witness, that will be cause for dismissal of indictment…it was the junior varsity who never got trained for a grand jury…she has no experience…So the U.S. attorney is so, how should I say, ‘novice’ that she presents two indictments, one had three counts, one had two; she looked like a clown show!”
