Lisa Rubin
@lawofruby
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@msnbc legal correspondent & recovering litigator; former: off-air legal analyst @maddow, @wagnertonight. Don’t let the pearls fool ya.
New York, NY
Joined January 2017
“You were not prosecuted for being a Trump supporter . You are not a political prisoner … You were trying to stop the singular thing that makes America America, the peaceful transfer of power.” -- Judge Amy Berman Jackson to 1/6 defendant Kyle Young at his sentencing.
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NEW: Tanya Chutkan did not come to play—and even as her case was stayed, she was getting ready. Case in point? Her 16-page decision issued tonight rejecting Trump’s motion to dismiss for selective and vindictive prosecution. 1/.
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NEW: Today’s court order requiring Rudy Giuliani to place most of his possessions, cash, and even his NYC apartment in receivership for the two GA election workers to whom he owes $148 million reminds us what the Big Lie has cost its most avid mouthpieces. 1/.
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NEW: Today, while announcing the indictment of Sean “Diddy” Combs, SDNY U.S. Attorney Damian Williams thanked the victims and witnesses who have stepped forward so far. But there is one whose story looms largest in the indictment: Cassie Ventura, his ex-partner. 1/.
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Tonight, faced with a court order preventing the transfer of any non-cash asset held by the Trump Org., his trust, or just himself without two weeks' notice to the court and the New York A.G., Donald Trump freaked the freak out. Communism, he moaned, is here in NY. 1/.
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NEW: A New York trial court judge has found that Trump, his adult sons, and Allen Weisselberg engaged in a persistent, years-long fraud through “fantasy world” valuations of core Trump assets, including his own residence and various golf courses and office buildings. 1/.
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Look beyond the result of today’s GA abortion decision, and you can see Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney stake out a broader, methodological position, especially in the footnotes. 1/.
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For those of you wondering how long it would take Donald Trump to defame E. Jean Carroll again, it seems to have happened tonight in Rome, GA. 1/.
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Hope Hicks, once so close to Trump that she could anticipate his moods and needs better than anyone, did not need a subpoena to be interviewed or to hand over documents. And that tells me that the rest of her transcript might be popcorn-worthy. 1/.
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NEW: Not even 2 days in, Judge Merchan calls out Trump’s conduct, telling Todd Blanche “while the juror was about 12 feet from client, your client was audibly saying something in her direction….I will not have any juror intimidated in this courtroom.”.
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NEW: I watched a portion of the Trump press conference today--but it wasn't until I read his comments that I realized that just a day after New York's highest court upheld the gag order, he arguably violated it again. 1/.
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NEW: Judge Juan Merchan has now denied Trump’s third motion for Merchan’s recusal, which argued that Kamala Harris becoming the presumptive Democratic nominee — and Merchan’s daughter’s prior work on her behalf — changed the calculus. Merchan disagreed. 1/.
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The appellate decision affirming E. Jean Carroll’s first jury verdict against Donald Trump is a 77-page foray into rules of evidence. You might be tempted to put it aside. Don’t look away. 1/.
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There’s really nothing like telling a federal judge that you have to travel for your mother-in-law’s funeral and therefore need a postponement, only to announce a campaign event in New Hampshire less than 24 hours later.
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NEW: It’s Saturday night, and while I sipped a glass of wine, E. Jean Carroll’s lawyers went on the offensive, telling the court they intend to admit as evidence Trump’s post-court press conferences & campaign statements from *this past week.* 1/.
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It is striking that in the wake of today’s Hunter Biden verdict, at least three jurors have already spoken to the press. But after two civil jury trials (in the E. Jean Carroll cases) and the Manhattan DA’s criminal trial, none of the 30 jurors on the Trump cases have said a word.
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NEW: Van Dubose, attorney for Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, provided this statement: ."Nobody, not even a former president, has a right to intentionally spread damaging, defamatory lies about fellow citizens. 1/.
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Just a reminder that on the 12/27/20 phone call where Trump told the acting Attorney General & his deputy to "just say that the election was corrupt and leave the rest to me & the R. congressmen," Trump also singled out one of those members, a "fighter" named Jim Jordan. 1/.
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NEW: It’s 9:12 pm, and Don Hankey’s Knight Specialty Insurance Company has not yet filed court papers to justify their $175 million bond in Trump’s civil fraud case. That filing is due *today.*.
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NEW: Judge Alvin Hellerstein has rejected Trump's attempt to remove the Manhattan DA's criminal case to federal court. While Trump can refile, he'll have to attach either written consent from the DA or leave from the Court, neither of which he has.
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NEW: Judge Chutkan has now entered her order directing the clerk to unseal the appendix to the Special Counsel's immunity briefs, which is so large that it was filed in multiple parts. And now we wait. 1/.
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NEW: The company that underwrote Trump's bond tonight in the NY Attorney General's civil fraud case, Knight Specialty Insurance Co., is owned by Don Hankey, the so-called "king of subprime car loans." But that's not all. 1/.
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“You’re confused,” Willis maintains. She says she is not on trial; “these people,” indicating the defendants, are on trial for trying to steal an election. Jaws just dropped around me.
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NEW: Judge Engoron just called the next witness, also known as former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. The courtroom is abuzz. 1/.
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Today, I learned that the court filing reflecting Trump’s bond in the civil fraud case was “returned for correction” and specifically, for the inclusion of a current financial statement and power of attorney. But all is not what it seems. 1/.
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Trump’s attack on Judge Merchan’s daughter last night represents the fourth time in three days that he has singled her out—and exposed her to potential harm. And she’s sadly not alone. 1/.
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Judge Engoron: “Mr. Kise, can you control your client? This is not a political rally… Maybe you should have a talk with him right now.” Kise disagrees and says it would be far more economical to let the “former and future chief executive of the United States” to give his.
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Remember when, just months ago, Trump reiterated his prior allegations about E. Jean Carroll on Truth Social? That destroyed his primary defense to her existing suit (that he acted within the scope of his job as POTUS) & created new defamation claims. Now, he’s done it again. 1/.
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I was at the grocery store this morning and was recognized by a loyal MSNBC fan. She asked me if I was consumed by rage when I sit in Trump legal proceedings, especially when he is in the room. 1/.
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NEW: Tonight, concerned that Trump’s escalating rhetoric about the standard instructions attached to the MAL search warrant will result in violence against law enforcement, the Special Counsel’s office is asking not for a gag order, but to modify Trump’s conditions of release. 1/.
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NEW: We’re back in session and before Ivanka returns to the stand, Judge Engoron clarified that the email between Jared and Ivanka is admissible under NY case law. Why? Because they emailed each other through work accounts.
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The cat's now out of the bag! I'm thrilled to continue my journey with @MSNBC. Thanks especially to the teams @maddow & @WagnerTonight for four-plus years of the best training an ex-lawyer could ever have.
A big congratulations to Lisa Rubin @lawofruby -- named @MSNBC Legal Correspondent today, covering all things legal and providing analysis on court cases & investigations.
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NEW: Steel yourself. In a new filing, the Special Counsel tells Judge Tanya Chutkan its opening immunity brief will be roughly 180 pages with roughly half devoted to a “detailed factual proffer” and plenty of sensitive material warranting redactions. 1/.
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NEW: Weisselberg just admitted that until Trump became president, he gave Trump the statements of financial condition before they were finalized, that Trump had an opportunity to review it, and that he “periodically” received comments. 1/.
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NEW: This is the fourth Trump trial I’ve attended regularly. But I have never seen anything like the phenomenon we’re witnessing the morning. 1/.
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I’m rereading the superseding indictment, and details that have been there since the start are still gobsmacking. Among them? That between Jan. 2021 and Aug. 2022, when the FBI conducted its court-authorized search of Mar a Lago, MAL hosted 150 social events. 1/.
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NEW: Judge Chutkan is like, I see your briefs today and I raise you a minute order making clear I will have a hearing and it will be before this Friday, fools. It’s 9 pm, and she is not messing around.
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NEW: Judge Chutkan vowed to enter a scheduling order before day’s end. And she did, granting Jack Smith’s proposal to submit a “comprehensive” brief on immunity, including supporting evidence, by 9/26. 1/
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“I am mindful that no Secretary of State has ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot access based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment. I am also mindful, however, that no presidential candidate has ever before engaged in insurrection.” — Maine SOS Shenna Bellows.
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Mark Meadows's suit to block the 1/6 committee's subpoenas to him was dismissed tonight. In finding the Speech and Debate Clause deprives the court of jurisdiction, Judge Carl Nichols also makes a significant finding about the subpoenas themselves. 1/.
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Remember Joel Greenberg, Matt Gaetz's former wingman who pled guilty to sex trafficking of a minor, among other federal crimes? His sentencing is coming up soon--and today, DOJ asked the court for a ten-level reduction in his offense level under the sentencing guidelines. 1/.
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Tomorrow’s the first working day of September—and we could see action in both state and federal courts as soon as tomorrow in Trump’s criminal cases. 1/.
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NEW: David Pecker confesses that he structured Karen McDougal's agreement purposefully to avoid triggering campaign finance law and even sought election law advice. Why? 1/.
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CARROLL: When E. Jean Carroll talks about the loss of her reputation, it's hard for Millennial, Gen Z, and frankly, even Gen Xers like me, to fully appreciate what she lost. Yes, she was an advice columnist for @ELLEmagazine. But she was also the stuff of journalistic legend. 1/.
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On Friday, Judge Arthur Engoron is expected to release his ruling in the New York attorney general’s civil fraud trial, a ruling that can be appealed but cannot be wiped away simply by virtue of Trump’s election to the presidency. And the consequences could be, well, yuge. 1/.
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NEW: The judge presiding over Trump's criminal case has ordered Joe Tacopina to turn over his communications with Stormy Daniels & disclose what information from Daniels he has shared with Trump.
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Trump's third request for a stay of the hush money trial in as many days has now been denied. And each of those hearings, he has been in front of a different judge in the Appellate Division, First Department. 1/.
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Since @ejeancarroll won $83.3 million from Donald Trump on Friday afternoon, Trump has been uncharacteristically quiet about Carroll. But as Judge Kaplan observed during their most tense exchange, Trump just can’t help himself. /1.
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NEW: Judge Tanya Chutkan has now granted the Special Counsel's request to file a 180-page brief defending its superseding indictment as compliant with the Supreme Court's immunity ruling. But don't get your reading corner ready just yet. 1/.
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You might be hearing that a president still could be prosecuted even for official acts if the presumption of immunity is rebutted. But that ignores three more granular features of the opinion that are akin to prosecutorial roadblocks. 1/.
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My mind keep coming back to this quote from Cassidy Hutchinson’s upcoming book: “Trump doesn’t care if you dispute him or call him a liar. Only silence bothers him. Being ignored drives him mad.”.
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NEW: Kevin Wallace just said the magic words, “The people call Donald J. Trump,” and he just took his sworn oath to tell the truth. 1/.
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The Special Counsel's immunity filing is still under seal, but its sealing motion itself is now public. And as promised, the Special Counsel says their brief contains never-before seen "sensitive material." 1/
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In less than 48 hours, former President Donald Trump is scheduled to testify at the New York attorney general’s civil fraud trial against him, his companies, and others. His lawyers are probably hoping he is less confused than his son, Eric, about Mar-a-Lago. 1/.
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The Justice Department responded today to the barrage of information requests it has already received from House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan. And in the nicest way possible, the letter reminds Jordan, "Do your job." 1/.
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NEW: E. Jean Carroll didn’t just get her day in court. She was vindicated on both her sexual assault and defamation claims—and if I heard correctly, awarded $5 million in total damages by a jury of 6 men and 3 women. Stunning and gratifying—& all because of several corroborators.
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BREAKING: 11th Circuit rules for DOJ; says Judge Cannon had no jurisdiction to block DOJ from using "lawfully seized records" from Mar-a-Lago. 1/.
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Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee to Sidney Powell, during her plea hearing this morning: "You're also to provide a recorded proffer with the state, which you've already satisfied. You're to testify truthfully, against any and all co-defendants in this matter at any upcoming.
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George Stephanopoulos left the Clinton White House in December 1996, well before his former boss’s deception about his abuse of power with respect to a woman we collectively shamed, if not tormented, for decades. But he didn’t shame you. 1/.
I’m not going to be shamed for being raped by a guy who worked for a President who wagged his finger and lied to the American people about having oral sex with an intern in the Oval Office…. STFU @GStephanopoulos.
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With news that John Eastman will likely join Sidney Powell and Ken Chesebro in demanding a speedy trial in Fulton County, it finally occurred to me *why*: They know Trump is going to invoke an advice of counsel defense. 1/.
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NEW: Special Counsel's team just filed a reply on the protective order: Trump "proposed an order designed to allow him to try this case in the media rather than in the courtroom;" their proposed order would "safeguard witness privacy & the integrity of these proceedings." 1/.
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I keep thinking about Judge Engoron's last-minute question to the New York Attorney General's lawyer yesterday: "How would you compare the fraud you are alleging to the Madoff Ponzi Scheme?" 1/.
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Yes, Jared Kushner reportedly told investigators that Trump genuinely believed he won the election. But you know who told the 1/6 committed he heard something very different? General Milley. 1/.
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The cameras have largely left. The crowd control fences have come down; there is no magnetometer outside the courtroom (on top of the usual courthouse security). But make no mistake: What is happening to Trump in a New York courtroom still matters. A lot. 1/.
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George Santos was in New Hampshire last night at Trump’s party. But his conditions of release prohibit travel outside New York and DC without advanced notice to the prosecution and pretrial services. Did he tell them he was going to NH?
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NEW: Trump has filed a second notice of removal of the Manhattan DA's hush money case to federal court in what reads like a bid to prevent any sentencing hearing from going forward. 1/.
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I am waiting to get into the courtroom for the Carroll proceedings, but the bizarre advantage of still being outside is learning Trump has yet again defamed Carroll on Truth Social.
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Hi, friends. I’m caffeinating for day 2 of Carroll v. Trump, where Trump is expected to glare, if not grumble, at his accuser as she testifies. As always, I’ll surrender my devices at the courthouse door, but find me here and at @msnbc with analysis and first-hand observations
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NEW: We just took a brief break because the most composed woman in Trump’s orbit — Hope Hicks — broke down on the stand right as cross examination started. Why would Hicks burst into tears—and why is she struggling to keep it together now? 1/.
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The Georgia Election Board convened this morning at 9 am to consider several proposed rule changes, including one that would require hand counting of GA ballots. 1/.
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NEW: The letter Trump's lawyers just sent to Judge Merchan asking him to postpone sentencing until after the election contains multiple flaws. But it also highlights how ill equipped the Supreme Court's immunity decision is to resolve key procedural questions in the NY case. 1/.
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As predicted, E. Jean Carroll keeps winning. Judge Lew Kaplan, faced with competing motions on the impact of Carroll’s May 2023 trial win, ruled this morning that Trump’s liability was already established. The Jan. ‘24 trial will be on damages *only.* 1/.
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NEW: Former GA election workers Ruby Freeman & Shaye Moss, who hold a $146 million judgment against Rudy Giuliani, have asked a New York court to transfer to them all his personal assets, including his claim against the RNC and the 2020 Trump campaign for ~$2 million in "unpaid.
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Florida district court judge Donald Middlebrooks had a warning today for the nation's litigant-in-chief as he sanctioned his lawyers: "[C]ourts are not intended for performative litigation for purposes of fundraising & political statements." 1/.
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NEW: You will hear some folks say today that Chesebro’s plea is an indication of how weak Willis’s case was. Don’t buy into that. Here’s why: 1/.
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CARROLL UPDATE: Trump moved for summary judgment on Carroll's first-filed suit, including on the grounds that he had absolute presidential immunity and that his statements were non-actionable opinion. Finding his arguments "without merit," Judge Lew Kaplan just denied his motion.
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NEW: Tish James has doubled down on her request that Judge Engoron investigate why documents that go to the heart of Allen Weisselberg's admitted perjury during the civil fraud trial were not turned over to the AG. 1/
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In the end, what the former guy calls communism looks to others of us like justice. The AG is not redistributing his wealth; she's preventing Trump from faking it--and now from transferring it--without accountability. FIN.
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Judge Cannon’s hearing starts at 2 pm—but with a new wrinkle: confirmation that Trump has received a target letter in the Special Counsel’s other investigation. 1/.
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One Trump trial closes; another one begins. I’ll be back at the federal courthouse directly behind this one for @ejeancarroll’s second defamation trial on Tuesday. Find me on @msnbc then!
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I’ve heard a number of people refer to the Stormy Daniels testimony as “graphic,” and as a person who embarrasses easily, that’s not how I experienced it. 1/.
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NEW: In one of the wildest things I've ever seen in court, Judge Merchan just cleared the courtroom after accusing Trump witness Robert Costello of "staring me down" after the judge admonished him for visibly and audibly reacting to objections Merchan sustained.
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If Samantha Hegseth, Pete Hegseth’s second (and now ex-)wife, proactively sought to speak with the FBI about her ex-husband, why was she not interviewed? The Senate’s decades-long failure to develop a responsible background check system to exercise its “advise and consent”.
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Tonight, I’m still processing that this Congress will end with criminal referrals of a former president, and in just over 2 weeks, the next one will open under control by that same guy’s apologists, enablers, and perhaps even co-conspirators. Total whiplash.
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Before we break for lunch, Judge Engoron politely skewers Trump Jr. on his understanding of history. The castle at Aberdeen may have been built in the 12th century, but that was not “before America was discovered.”.
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Nearly every former prosecutor I know predicted Mark Meadows would not take the stand at his removal hearing. The risks to him from cross would simply be too great, they agreed. And they were wrong. 1/.
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NEW: Judge Merchan is now giving introductory remarks to a panel of 96 prospective jurors as Trump rests his eyes. But we’ve already seen some fireworks this morning. 1/.
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TRUMP (BUSINESS) RECORDS: I was in court today for argument about where the Manhattan DA’s criminal case against Trump should be heard: in state court where it started or in federal court, as Trump wants. And after 2.5 hours and a surprise witness, it went exactly as expected. 1/.
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NEW: In his reply brief to a NY appeals court today, Trump argues that he is unable to procure a bond covering the $454-plus million judgment, which is still accruing interest. So he wants a stay of enforcement without a bond. But don’t sleep on what else he wants. 1/.
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NEW: The prospective Trump jurors are a highly educated bunch. The first 9 potential jurors in the box this morning include 8 with college degrees, four of whom have advanced degrees (one JD; three MBAs). 1/.
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NEW: The big takeaway of this morning’s testimony is twofold: Pecker was a very good, albeit transactional, friend of Trump for decades, and the agreement they struck in 2015 went way beyond the “catch and kill” aspect of the scheme that has been known for years.
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If SCOTUS derails both federal criminal trials of Trump, Tish James & E. Jean Carroll will have held Trump accountable in ways the Justice Department might never achieve. Don’t discount the significance of civil liability, especially for a guy who values money over liberty.
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NEW: While arguing for the admission of tweets and social media posts evocative of Trump’s pressure campaign on witnesses, the DA’s office drops this: “Shortly, we will be seeking an order to show cause why Defendant should not be held in contempt” for violating the gag order.
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NEW: Terrence Bradley just testified that he was “speculating” as to when Willis and Wade’s relationship started; he “never witnessed anything” and “no one told me that.”.
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Something that bears clarifying: Trump is mad that Judge Engoron did not let him read from or submit in evidence the disclaimer language that appears in his statements of financial condition. But he shouldn’t be. At all.
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NEW: In urging Judge Aileen Cannon to reconsider two orders that would, among other things, reveal the names of two dozen people who have participated in the Mar a Lago investigation, the Special Counsel's office filed a document available to Cannon and only Cannon. 1/.
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Want to know how badly the gag order hearing went for Trump? "Mr. Blanche, you're losing all credibility with this court," says Judge Merchan, right after Blanche argues Trump's team is trying hard to comply with the gag order.
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NEW: A prospective juror won the morning in response to one of the jury questions. “I dated a lawyer for a while…. It ended fine,” she added, as if to underscore that she harbors no ill will toward attorneys. The overflow room roared.
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NEW: Remember the gag order that Trump has complained improperly prevented him from testifying in his own defense in the NY civil fraud trial this week? A NY appeals court just found it is not, despite Trump's insistence, unlawful or a violation of his constitutional rights. 1/.
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