In public, former president Donald Trump has defended himself against the four different prosecutions he has faced by claiming that they are evidence of a double standard of justice and a concerted hit job.
It becomes more likely this week that three of the four criminal prosecutions may not make it to court before Election Day, disproving Trump’s claim.
The second prosecution, which is usually considered as the weakest evidence against Trump, has given the ex-president plenty of opportunities for scandal and embarrassment. The details of that New York lawsuit, however, seem to belong to another era; they center on his purported attempt to conceal an affair rather than his actions as president or his endeavors to reverse the 2020 election.
None of the instances have resulted in a guilty plea from Trump.
What would Trump think of this chain of events if he could construct a conspiracy theory based on the fact that different grand juries in four states—New York, Florida, Georgia, and Washington, DC—independently approved charges against him?
Case involving classified materials delayed indefinitely
Two indictments were filed: one on June 8, 2023, and a superseding indictment on July 27, 2023.
Date of trial: Postponed forever.
The fact that Trump nominated Aileen Cannon to preside over the Florida case is meaningless. Critics accuse Cannon of bowing to Trump’s demands to postpone the trial and of slow-walking in the amount of time it takes for her to return rulings.
Tuesday, Cannon did not pencil in a new trial date and instead scratched the one that was slated for May. The trial, in which special counsel Jack Smith claims Trump mismanaged secret data he refused to give over to the National Archives, is not expected to take place before November, according to legal experts, due to the numerous lingering difficulties in the federal case.
Cannon has been unsuccessful thus far in the trial, according to Trump critic and ex-White House lawyer Ty Cobb, who spoke with AWN’s Erin Burnett on Tuesday night.
“I believe her goal the whole time was to keep this case out of trial,” Cobb told Burnett. According to Cobb, the judge’s sluggishness is due to “a combination of bias and incompetence.”
Thanks to the Supreme Court’s sluggish schedule, Trump is benefiting.
August 1, 2023: indictment.
Date of trial: Postponed forever.
Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court has put on hold the second federal action in which Smith alleges that Trump and others conspired to deprive Americans of their democratic rights by reversing the 2020 election results.
For starters, the justices passed on Trump’s questionable “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution to a lower court panel for oral arguments rather than expeditiously addressing it.
But the Supreme Court wanted to weigh in when the lower court denied Trump’s claim of absolute immunity. During a hearing last month, Trump presented a number of extreme arguments, including the hypothetical situation of Seal Team 6 being ordered to eliminate a political rival. While the three conservative justices who were appointed by Trump did not fully support these claims, they were intrigued enough to indicate that their decision will not simply permit the trial to proceed.
Assuming they ever get around to making it available. June or July? Who knows? Thus, there would be insufficient time for a trial.
The president’s attempt to remove the Georgia prosecutor from office is ongoing.
August 14, 2023: indictment.
Date of trial: Postponed forever.
There ought to be no connection between the charges against Trump and the relationship between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and a prosecutor. The allegations pertain to Trump’s attempt to reverse the 2020 Georgia election results. However, Trump is benefiting from the consequences of her choice to hire her ex-boyfriend.
Wednesday, Trump’s appeal of Judge Scott McAfee’s decision to retain Willis was acknowledged by the Georgia Court of Appeals.
Where does the risqué New York Case end?
Charges: April 4, 2023, Unsealed verdict.
Continued trial.
As he confronted Stormy Daniels in court on Tuesday, Trump was uninterested in hearing the sleazy details of their alleged encounter.
As they attempt to undermine Daniels’ credibility, Trump’s legal team may prolong the cross-examination of their client when the trial resumes on Thursday. Michael Cohen, a convicted felon and erstwhile fixer for Trump, will face off against the lawyers representing the boss whose campaign finance laws he claims he violated in his upcoming trial.
It is possible that federal prosecutors had valid reasons for deciding not to pursue this case.
Whatever else Trump may have done as president or tried to influence the election results, a conviction for fabricating business records (if it ever comes) could not be enough to sway the small number of voters in swing states who hold the power to decide the outcome of this election.
The charges against Trump do not constitute a vast plot to rig the election. They are a cog in a sluggish justice system that benefits from having the means, courtesy of contributors, to employ a legion of attorneys who can clog up the machinery. It has long been Trump’s plan to put off his trials until after he is elected, and then he will try to have them dismissed. Looking at it that way, he has had a good week.
