For What it’s Worth: Warren Hecht

The results of the Democratic presidential primary in Michigan should send shockwaves through supporters of Israel. There was a campaign to have voters vote uncommitted as a protest to what they saw as President Biden’s pro-Israel policy concerning the war in Gaza. More than 100,000 votes, or about 13% of the total votes, were cast as uncommitted. The uncommitted slate obtained two delegates to the Democratic National Convention. It was the first time in the Democratic primary this year that delegates went to someone besides the president. The strongest support was unsurprisingly in Muslim communities. It was also strong in areas with universities, which is an indication that it is popular with students. Other areas also had numbers of uncommitted, but they were lower.

There are three branches of government: the Executive, led by the president; the Legislative, consisting of the Senate and House of Representatives; and the Judicial, with the United States Supreme Court as the highest court.

When I write, I assume the reader’s knowledge of the subject.  I found out that what I thought was obvious and well-known is not so for many readers. For example, last week I mentioned about Fani Willis. I failed to mention that Fulton County is in Georgia and that she is the District Attorney who brought state charges against Donald Trump relating to the 2020 election. The week before, I mentioned how ridiculous it was to impeach Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. I figured people knew that the standard for impeaching a cabinet official and president is the same high crimes and misdemeanors. Just like you cannot impeach the president because you do not like the job his is doing, the same applies to a cabinet official. The last time a cabinet member was impeached was in 1876, when the Secretary of War was found to have been involved in a kickback scheme.

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal, commented that “Instead of giving us his full backing, Biden is busy with humanitarian aid and fuel [to Gaza], which goes to Hamas. If Trump [were] in power, the US conduct would be completely different.” This is a view that many QJL readers agree with.

A well-known phrase among lawyers is that lawyers make the worst witnesses. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is a perfect example. She put on a clinic on how not to testify. It was painful to watch. She did everything you warn a witness not to do: argue and attack the attorney who is questioning you, avoid answering the question, go into areas that the other side was precluded from asking (opening up the door), give speeches instead of answering the questions, and get admonished by the judge.

The jury in the federal case brought by E. Jean Carroll against Donald Trump awarded her $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages. Although the number may end up being reduced on appeal, it did not come as a shock.