'BradCast' 11/21/2022 (Special Counsel to Investigate Trump, with former DoJ prosecutor Randall D. Eliason and Constitutional law expert John Bonifaz)
On today's 'BradCast':\xa0 U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed an independent Special Counsel, Jack Smith, to oversee Justice Department criminal probes of Donald Trump's theft of classified documents from the White House and his incitement of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. Garland explained that 'extraordinary circumstances' mandated the appointment of an independent Special Counsel after Trump formally announced that he is running for President in 2024, along with the presumption that Joe Biden is planning to do the same.\xa0 But there are differing opinions within the legal community. Former federal prosecutor RANDALL ELIASON, now a law professor at George Washington University, explains why he believes that DOJ 'regulations and the public interest demand' a Special Counsel.\xa0 Constitutional law expert JOHN BONIFAZ of the government watchdog group Free Speech for People explains his concerns about Garland's decision and the efficacy of a Special Counsel appointment at this stage. In a lively exchange, Eliason and Bonifaz explain the nuanced political and legal factors involved in criminally investigating a former president.\xa0 Bonifaz also explains FSFP's new initiative calling on state election officials to bar Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot, arguing that his incitement of the January 6 insurrection makes him ineligible under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, the so-called Insurrection Disqualification Clause. Also today:\xa0 a major agreement was struck at the U.N. COP27 climate conference to create a 'Loss and Damage' fund requiring rich nations to compensate poorer nations for the accelerating costs of climate disasters.