Lawyer project preserves record of RADICAL DOJ corruption under Trump

The video discusses the Case Tracker Project (0:21) launched by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) (0:17). This project aims to document and analyze federal prosecutions under the Trump Justice Department (1:04-1:06) that exhibit unusual or aggressive uses of criminal law, departing from historical prosecutorial practices (0:10-0:37).

Key aspects of the project include:

Purpose for defense lawyers: It serves as a practical tool (0:59-1:02) for defense lawyers to find cases where the Trump Justice Department has "behaved weirdly" (1:06) or "gone off the rails" (1:07), including undermining the grand jury process, overcharging minor offenses, and relying on bogus evidence (1:09-1:20). This helps lawyers provide effective assistance to their clients (3:13-3:18).

Historical record and future precedent: Beyond practical use, the project aims to create a repository of information (3:20-3:25) to distinguish these "aberrant" (2:13) behaviors from normal Justice Department conduct (3:49-3:55). The goal is to ensure that these unusual actions are "walled off and bracketed as not precedent" (2:38-2:40) for future Justice Departments (2:01-2:08).

Public engagement: The tracker provides access to key filings, decisions, and outcomes (0:40-0:44), allowing journalists, historians, policymakers, and the public to understand the differences in behavior (3:32-3:45).

Citizens' resistance: The video highlights an "unprecedented number of grand juries refusing to indict" (5:43-5:52) and trial juries rejecting prosecution cases (5:55-6:07) when evidence doesn't support charges. This demonstrates citizens "revolting" (9:43) against the unusual presentations being made by prosecutors.

Submitting cases: While grand jurors cannot report due to secrecy rules, defense lawyers and others not bound by such rules are invited to submit aberrant cases to be added to the tracker (11:05-11:18).

The project is continuously updated with new cases (11:30-11:33) and will continue to build this repository for the next three years (11:43-11:51). More information can be found at nacdl.org/casetracker (12:53-12:54).