This week, Donald Trump is set to turn himself in on his fourth indictment, for suspected election involvement in Georgia, adding an extraordinary diversion to the already illogical 2024 White House contest.
On Thursday or Friday, according to a senior law enforcement source who spoke to AWN, the GOP frontrunner is scheduled to turn himself in for questioning and possible fingerprinting and mugshot. Trump is slated to appear at the Fulton County jail shortly after the first GOP debate on Wednesday, which is traditionally an early defining event in any campaign but will be overshadowed by his choice to boycott the discussion. Trump’s legal peril and the unprecedented government effort to try a former president — and potential major party nominee — over his effort to overturn his 2020 defeat are permeating every aspect of the political calendar, as evidenced by the potential juxtaposition of Trump’s appearance in Georgia with the first debate.
Not only could no other candidate run for president while facing nearly 100 criminal accusations in four separate cases, but no other GOP leader could comfortably ignore a prime-time televised debate and turn his absence into an argument for his inevitability. But Trump is altering the rules of politics once again by trying to use criminal indictments to enhance a political career that has always thrived amid accusations that he is being unfairly punished.
Considering his commanding lead in most primary polls, it’s hardly surprising that Trump announced on Sunday that he wouldn’t be attending the debate in Milwaukee. It’s possible that his legal woes will once again overshadow the GOP primary, obscuring the efforts of his opponents to capitalise on Trump’s four indictments. If Trump shows up at the Fulton County prison for his expected arrest, processing, and release, it is likely that media coverage would instantly eclipse any post-debate bounce for the other candidates from what would typically be important prime-time exposure.
In a fundraising email sent out on Sunday, Trump referred to a Washington Post article about a “violent Atlanta jail with crumbling walls” and accused Democrats of adopting the totalitarian policies of Soviet and Chinese tyrants Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong in preparation for his upcoming trip to Georgia. In keeping with his pattern of using inflammatory language to attack political opponents and keep the cash flow that is helping to fund his legal fees, Trump used such language in his email.
His popularity, though, highlights one of the most confusing aspects of the campaign. A contender with a respectable chance of becoming the 47th president is using the unprecedented number of criminal charges against him, which could result in his imprisonment, to his benefit in the political arena. Given his commanding lead in the polls, this strategy appears to be resonating with Republican primary voters. However, it’s unclear how competitive a general election would be with a nominee who would spend much of 2019 in court rather than campaigning.
An additional four counts of indictment
With Georgia being a swing state that will be pivotal again in 2024, Trump was charged last week in Fulton County under racketeering laws for allegedly leading a “criminal enterprise” consisting of 18 individuals to overturn President Joe Biden’s triumph in the state. In the coming days, many of the other defendants are expected to turn themselves in as well, creating a spectacle that will highlight the massive nature of the case being brought by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and the accounting being done for a previous election while another campaign is well underway.
Trump was the first former president to be indicted, facing charges in two separate federal investigations: one into his alleged attempt to steal the 2016 election, and another into the mishandling of secret information at his Florida club. Trump, who claims he is innocent, is currently on trial in Manhattan on charges related to a hush money payment made to an adult film actress in 2016.
Trump’s overworked legal team wants to delay any reckoning until after the November 2024 election, so next year is shaping up to be an election year like no other as prosecutors and judges juggle trial dates in several charges. He seems to be seeking restoration to office in the hopes of regaining executive powers that would allow him to pardon himself or at least halt prosecution in criminal cases. However, due to the separation of powers between the federal government and the states, those authorities would not be applicable in the Georgia and Manhattan prosecutions. But Trump would almost probably challenge the legitimacy of any state or local convictions against him in court.
All of that is still a long way off, and it hinges on Trump first securing the Republican nominee, and then the presidency. Trump’s central campaign message has been that he is being persecuted by the Biden administration in an effort to prevent him from returning to the White House. The latest indictment filed in Georgia lends credence to this claim.
However, Trump’s actions following the 2016 victory and his handling of confidential information pose another mystery at the heart of this election. How long do you think the political and judicial institutions of the United States can last if a former president and current presidential candidate can get away with behaviour that would get any other citizen in trouble with the law?
It is this tension between what the law appears to require and the risk of further splitting trust in judicial institutions that will plague next year’s election, since it will affect millions of voters who believe Trump is being politically targeted.
