Rahimi and the Second Amendment: How The Supreme Court Swatted Down Hunter Biden’s Hail Mary Pass

June 22, 20241/2

Below is my column on Fox.com on the ruling in United States v. Rahimi and its implications for the Hunter Biden appeal. The hope for a final pass to the Court ended with an 8-1 decision against the challenge to the federal gun law.

Here is the column:

On Friday, Hunter Biden may have lost the greatest Hail Mary pass in history.When Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach threw his famous winning touchdown pass to wide receiver Drew Pearson in 1975, he later explained “I closed my eyes and said a Hail Mary.” For Hunter, the pass to the Supreme Court roughly 50 years later just missed in equally spectacular fashion.

Hunter and his legal team were counting on the Court striking down the federal gun law at issue in the case of United States v. Rahimi. Hunter was just convicted by a unanimous jury in Delaware for false statements on a gun form and possession of a firearm as a drug addict.He has been arguing against the position of his father’s administration and adopting the same argument of the National Rifle Association (NRA) in challenging the constitutionality of the law.

The Supreme Court just voted 8-1 that the law is indeed constitutional and that a court can temporarily deprive citizens of the right to possess weapons for the protection of others. The sole dissenter was Justice Clarence Thomas.

The case involved Zackey Rahimi, a drug dealer who was under a restraining order after a 2019 argument with his girlfriend (called C.M. in the opinion) who had a child with him. Rahimi allegedly knocked C.M. down, dragged her to a car, and then (as C.M. fled) shot at either C.M. or a bystander. He was also accused of threatening to shoot her if she went to the cops.

The Texas trial court found that Rahimi was not only engaged in “family violence” but that additional violence was “likely to occur again in the future.”

Under the protective order, Rahimi’s gun license was suspended for two years and he was barred from contacting C.M. for that period. Under the order, his gun rights would be suspended for either one or two years after his release date, depending on any imprisonment.

However, Rahimi was not done yet. He later violated the order by approaching C. M. and communicated with her by social media. Months later, Rahimi threatened a different woman with a gun and was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Finally, a police officer later identified him as the suspect in a spate of at least five additional shootings.

That was not exactly a poster child for lawful gun owners and the Court failed to see the suspension of his gun rights as an unconstitutional deprivation.

Since the Court first recognized the Second Amendment as an individual right in District of Columbia v. Heller, 554 U.S. 570 (2008), it has stated that this is not an absolute right. There are no truly absolute rights in the Constitution.

https://jonathanturley.org/2024/06/22/rahimi-and-the-second-amendment-how-the-supreme-court-intercepts-hunter-bidens-hail-mary-pass/

>>21071184

2/2

The Court found the federal statutes imposing a reasonable temporary limitation on this right.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote that “an individual found by a court to pose a credible threat to the physical safety of another may be temporarily disarmed consistent with the Second Amendment.”

The key is the temporary qualification. The Court is only saying that a court can make reasonable decisions based on such a record to protect others from allegedly violent defendants.

While the majority found that such temporary limits were consistent with historical practices, Justice Thomas, the author of the Bruen decision that reinforced the protections under the Second Amendment after Heller, objected that the Court could not cite “a single historical regulation” to justify the federal law. Bruen had emphasized such historical practices in interpreting the protections under the Second Amendment.

That brings us back to Hunter. While the result in Washington was not as bad as the unanimous decision in Delaware,it may well have sealed his fate on appeal. U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika did not leave him much for appeal in overseeing a fair and textbook trial.

The Biden legal team had been counting on Hail Mary passes since a Special Counsel was appointed. It almost worked. Special Counsel David Weiss seemed to work hard to avoid any felony charges against the president’s son.

The Justice Department not only allowed the statute of limitations to run on major crimes, but sought to finalize an obscene plea agreement with no jail time for Hunter. In the hearing to accept the plea, Judge Noreika decided to ask a couple of cursory questions of the prosecutor, particularly about a sweeping immunity provision covering any and all crimes committed by Hunter. The prosecutor admitted that he had never seen an agreement this generous for a defendant.

The plea fell apart and the Biden team seemed unwilling to accept anything but a single throw victory. They told the prosecutor in court “just rip it up.”

The Biden legal team then blundered in taking the case to trial with a jury nullification strategy.

Some of us wrote that Hunter needed to plead guilty to avoid jail time.Instead, they hoped that a Delaware jury in Bidentown could never convict a Biden. They were wrong.

That left the last pass to the Supreme Court, which just seemed to land in the stadium seats. In reality, it was never a strong throw. After all, Hunter was convicted for lying on gun forms, something that the Court was never likely to excuse.

What is now left for Hunter are sentencing guidelines that strongly support jail time and a judge who has imposed such jail time in past cases.

The other group of people that may be even more upset with this ruling may be many in the media and Congress. Once again, the Court has shattered the false narrative that this is a hopelessly divided Court along ideological lines. This month the Court has continued to rule unanimously or nearly unanimously, including in cases like Rahimi in controversial constitutional claims.

Instead, the Court rendered a reasonable, balanced accommodation for public safety under the Second Amendment.It is not clear who is more disappointed: Hunter or the Court critics.

https://jonathanturley.org/2024/06/22/rahimi-and-the-second-amendment-how-the-supreme-court-intercepts-hunter-bidens-hail-mary-pass/

RAHEEM J. KASSAM ANALYSIS

KASSAM: London, 2024 – Days 3 & 4: ‘Russia, Russia, Russia.’

WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND—Globalist journalist Nick Robinson’s interview with Nigel Farage, which aired on Friday, colored days three and four on the campaign trail in the United Kingdom. In the discussion, Farage stated the obvious about NATO and the European Union’s saber-rattling in Ukraine over the past 15 times, which culminated in the Russian invasion of the Eastern European country under Joe Biden’s watch.

What should be an indictment of the D.C.-Westminster-Brussels political class, however, has become a cudgel by which to beat Farage, with almost every major political, media, and society figure lambasting the Reform Party leader over the past 48 hours and calling his rhetoric “pro-Putin.”

The charge is preposterous, but the British public writ large lacks critical detail on the topic,with an almost total mainstream media blackout on any criticisms of Volodymyr Zelensky and his apparatus. Most broadcast personalities and even “right-leaning” Conservative Party figures have sought to portray Farage as “fringe” rather than prescient in his views.

On the campaign trail in Clacton, the parliamentary district where Farage is standing for election, the topic was the subject of equivocation. While likely Reform Party voters understood Farage’s position, they still predominantly blamed Vladimir Putin and Russia as the original aggressors in the conflict.

On the doors and in the pubs,people in the area seem optimistic about Farage’s election chances but are broadly lethargic about their nation’s politics in general. This creates a dangerous situation for Farage’s campaign, as his likeliest voters are the least likely to vote.

The apparatus around him is small, and there are just 11 days left until Britain heads to the polls.

Ever the retail politicians, Farage’s message is focused on causing an upset to the country’s political class, which electing him as a Member of Parliament would certainly inflict.

But despite his party returning a number of massive polling results,their expected seat-count in the parliament of 650 members remains sub-10 due to how thinly the Reform vote is split across the UK.

And Farage himself is spread thinner than ever, with a small team of aides and national travel schedule to contend with, it is not yet a certainty that he will be chosen as Clacton’s Member of Parliament. They will need the winds at their back between now and July 4th.

https://thenationalpulse.com/analysis-post/kassam-london-2024-days-3-4-russia-russia-russia/

Pray for Farage, his team and the voters to have a massive turn out and do not let the Tories and Labor crowd him out. They are talking about teaming up against Reform

Trump says he knows who his vice presidential selection will be

The former president also said his running mate is likely to attend his first debate against President Joe Biden on Thursday.

June 22, 2024, 9:05 PM EDT

By Jake Traylor, Dasha Burns, Megan Lebowitz, Alec Hernández and Isabelle Schmeler

PHILADELPHIA — Former President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he knows who his vice presidential pick will be — and gave a clue about his or her likely debate night plans.

When asked by NBC News during a Philadelphia campaign stop whether he has decided on his vice presidential pick,Trump responded, "in my mind, yeah," adding that the person will “most likely” be at Thursday’s debate against President Joe Biden.

"They'll be there," he continued. "I think we have a lot of people coming." (He's saying all the candidates for VP will be there, so they write a whole article pretending only "the one" will be there.)

Trump said that “nobody knows” his choice yet. NBC News has previously reported that Trump is zeroing in on Doug Burgum, JD Vance and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., as possible top contenders for the slot.

Sources familiar with the selection process told NBC News that Burgum, the governor of North Dakota, and Vance, an Ohio senator, are considered the top two finalists. Rubio is still being considered, though a constitutional hiccup would require that either Trump or Rubio establish residency outside of Florida.

Trump senior adviser Brian Hughes said in a statement that the campaign's top criterion for selecting a running mate “is a strong leader who will make a great President for eight years after his next four year term concludes.”

Trump is holding informal policy sessions with confidantes in the lead-up to the debate, including possible vice presidential contenders. Vance spoke with Trump about the economy and inflation, and Rubio met with Trump when the former president was in D.C. earlier this month.

His Saturday comments came during a stop at a local Philadelphia restaurant ahead of a rally. Pennsylvania is expected to be a vital swing state on the road to the White House. Biden flipped Pennsylvania blue in 2020 and continues to campaign across the state as the election approaches.

The former president said that he plans to announce his vice presidential pick "right around the convention."

"Maybe a little before, but could be at the convention," Trump said. "But we’ll have some great people."

The Republican National Convention, at which delegates from across the country will officially nominate the party's nominees for president and vice president, is set to be held on July 15-18 in Milwaukee.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-says-knows-presidential-selection-will-rcna158457

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem indicates she hasn't been formally vetted to be Trump's running mate

NBC News reported Friday that Trump’s vice presidential search has narrowed to focus on Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum.

June 23, 2024, 10:16 AM EDT By Alexandra Marquez

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem on Sunday said that former President Donald Trump should pick a running mate who “will help him win,” and indicated that she has not been formally vetted for the position.

“I haven’t received any paperwork. No, I haven’t,” Noem told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” adding: “I’ve had conversations with the president, and I know that he is the only one who will be making the decisions on who will be his vice president.”

Earlier this month, Noem suggested that having a woman on the ticket might be particularly helpful to Trump, telling CNN, “All the polls tell him in these swing states that a woman on the ticket helps him win.”

But when guest moderator Peter Alexander asked Sunday whether Trump would be making a mistake by not selecting a woman for the ticket, Noem wouldn’t say so. “He needs to pick the best person for the job,” Noem told Alexander, adding that Trump should “pick someone that will help him win.”

Noem had been viewed as a top contender on Trump’s vice presidential short list but faced backlash earlier this year about an anecdote she told in a memoir about killing her family’s young dog. Asked whether what she wrote in her book cost her a shot at being vice president, Noem declined to answer, only saying,“I would say that that was a story from 20 years ago about me protecting my children from a vicious animal.”(She should never bring up that story again, lacking any self-reflection, of discrimination what to include, she shouldn’t be VP)

She added later, “The reason it’s in my book is because that book is filled with challenging times and hard decisions.” The book also faced criticism after certain parts were disputed, including claims she met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Future editions of the book will not include the North Korea anecdote, which her spokesperson later acknowledged was erroneous. “I’m not going to talk about that,” Noem said Sunday, adding, “I took that line out of my book, and I’m not going to talk about it.”

Noem also spoke about her views on abortion, which are at odds with Trump’s. South Dakota has one of the most restrictive bans on the procedure in the country, not allowing exceptions for rape and incest. Meanwhile, Trump has said he does support such exceptions.

The governor argued that her state’s law is not at odds with Trump’s views, which are that laws governing abortion should be made at the state level. “I would say that it’s going to look different,” Noem said Sunday. “[Trump] said that many times over. In fact, you know, in our state specifically, the people decide.”

The governor also echoed Trump’s position on pardoning the rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. “Every one of those cases needs to be looked at individually,” Noem said. “[Pardons] will be based on his prerogative and his decision when he looks at those cases.”The former president has said he will “absolutely” consider pardoning every person convicted in connection with their actions on Jan. 6.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/south-dakota-gov-kristi-noem-indicated-hasnt-formally-vetted-trumps-ru-rcna158448

Crowd Goes Dead Silent as Bill Maher Realizes “Hush Money” Trial Was a BIG MISTAKE. Cuomo also says the Tish James case along with the Hush money case should not have been brought at all, just because his name was Donald Trump. (Since NY won't vote republican they should vote him back in, Hoschul set him up accusing him of inappropriate interactions with women, instaed of standing by his side)

0:53

https://rumble.com/embed/v50nzc3/?pub=4

>>21071375

It's funny, Cuomo was sitting next to Kizinger the biggest Trump hater along with Cheney. Even Cuomo can see the sham these trials are. Kizinger should be ashamed of himself, but he won't be.

Bill Maher Attempts to Debunk Biden “Cheap Fakes”Maher is so desperate, saying Bidan is mentally there. Maher now has political dementia, it's obvious

1:16

https://rumble.com/embed/v50nv6v/?pub=4

The Radical Left’s Hypocrisy Exposed: Accusing Others of Their Own Actionswith Kash Patel

2:32

https://rumble.com/embed/v50a6pa/?pub=4

Dr. Ben Carson: ‘COVID was a great blessing’ in Exposing Public School Corruption. With Epoch Times

3:20

(I actually hope Dr. Ben Carson is the VP under Trump, there is no way he would betray the President, they are very good friends. Maybe he will be appointed an Agency head under 2nd Trump Term.)

https://rumble.com/embed/v50km06/?pub=4

Hawley to Boeing CEO Calhoun: Whistleblowers 'Literally Fear for Their Lives' After Raising Concerns. Hawley telling the Calhoun everything is doing, and he’s being paid $33 million annually. Why haven’t you resigned? He answers, "I am proud of the job we are doing"

Really good grilling. This guy is such a liar and jerk, he denies everything that the public knows the safety record, but he says there's no problems. And he's proud of the job he's doing.

4:32

https://rumble.com/embed/v50323f/?pub=4

"The Unkillable Soldier" - The Legend of Adrian Carton de Wiart

Joe Rogan Show. The story of this guy is unbelievable. he loves war. his Wiki page goes on forever, on how many wars he was in.

7:38

https://rumble.com/embed/v4bbve5/?pub=4

Full interview with Tech Billionaires with President Trump. In conversation with President Trump

1:20:34

https://youtu.be/blqIZGXWUpU?si=BVgF2q9-CvXmh-HP

>>21071778

Notes of Show:

584,441 views Jun 20, 2024 All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

(0:00) Bestie intros: Big house talk!

(1:37) Economy: Regulation, taxes, tariffs, taming inflation, de-dollarization

(12:02) Federal debt: growth, spend control, where to cut, role of energy, nuclear

(20:22) Foreign policy: Ukraine/Russia

(25:05) Foreign policy: Israel/Palestine

(28:13) Abortion: Stance on a national ban

(31:09) Foreign policy: China

(32:33) COVID: Origins, Fauci relationship, deep state, bad deals

(39:39) Border: Wall, immigration, H-1Bs, recruiting global talent

(46:07) JFK Files: Full release, importance of transparency

(48:06) Debate prediction

(50:15) Post-interview debrief