# DOJ/Jack Smith Investigation into Trump and Election Interference, January 6th Insurrection (Re-Indicted August 27, 2024) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [November 23, 2022, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455 "2022-11-23T20:14:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 115
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2284 "2024-03-01T22:36:56Z")
Though if there’s any set of circumstances that would drive Biden (the only Democrat that matters here) to do such a thing, the hypothetical would be it. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2285 "2024-03-01T22:42:13Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Yeah, but I believe this MAGA court is aware that Democrats would never do that, and that Republicans will. Exactly. Democrats follow strict Marquess of Queensberry rules while the Republicans swing machetes. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2286 "2024-03-01T22:48:07Z")
But what if they…didn’t? What if they decided to throw the rule book in the gutter? I agree Biden wouldn’t do that and neither would most Democrats. But if the law of the land now says that the President _may_ do so, then the rules have changed. If the rule book has been updated, the Dems could play by the book but still lock the R’s out of the seat of power. As the R’s have spent the last two decades accusing the Dems of all sorts of wild sociopathic actions, it just astonishes me that they don’t seem to take seriously the possibility that the Dems, you know…might start acting like the R’s. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2287 "2024-03-01T23:01:58Z")
For what it’s worth, were I senate majority leader at a time when a Republican president had a supreme court vacancy in the final year of their term, I totally would not arrange for a vote. I’d tell anyone bothered by it that I was a big believer in tradition. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2288 "2024-03-01T23:12:28Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > To avoid possibly confusing double negatives: > > If the SC had simply let the lower court ruling stand, would that stop Trump from claiming immunity in his other cases, resulting in appeals to other appellate courts and further delays, or would it not? Thanks for the clarification. (Double negatives are often perilous.) I see the consensus answer seems to be that the lower court ruling was too narrowly stated to affect Trump’s cases in (for example) New York and Georgia. > [@bobot](#): > > Yeah, but I believe this MAGA court is aware that Democrats would never do that, and that Republicans will. I’d guess that the Roberts Six are quite confident, as you suggest, that saying in effect ‘it’s okay for Presidents to break the law in the interests of staying in power indefinitely’ will NOT result in a Democratic President breaking the law. When your side takes pride in being sociopathic, you definitely can get a lot done. Especially when the other side takes pride in integrity and humanity. (The drawback for the sociopathic side, though, is that vicious dictators sometimes do come to a hanged-from-a-lamppost sort of end.) ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2289 "2024-03-01T23:12:56Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > But what if they…didn’t? What if they decided to throw the rule book in the gutter? I agree that our devotion to what is proper can become a suicide pact. I’m also not sure where the line is that, if crossed, debases us into a version of _them_. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2290 "2024-03-01T23:21:32Z")
Without intending to start a side topic, I’d say: look at today’s funeral for Russian opponent-of-Putin Alexei Navalny. Look at those hundreds of people who risked almost certain persecution for showing up. They did it because the ideals Navalny stood for–democracy, anti-corruption, humanity–mean so much to them. People who brazenly lie, cheat, and steal, and celebrate cruelty-for-cruelty’s sake (read MAGA) cannot inspire those emotions. They can inspire a desperation to get power to avoid being held accountable for crimes, and they can inspire racist resentment and grievance. But they can’t inspire the kind of devotion that make those Russians risk jail and worse for attending that funeral. Hell, today’s MAGAs famously won’t even show up to their own protests for fear of facing legal consequences. Democrats hold on to ideals. Republicans trash them. And _which_ party hasn’t been able to win the Presidency via the popular vote in decades…? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2291 "2024-03-02T00:05:49Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > For what it’s worth, were I senate majority leader at a time when a Republican president had a supreme court vacancy in the final year of their term, I totally would not arrange for a vote. I’d tell anyone bothered by it that I was a big believer in tradition. In that situation as D Senate Majority leader, I would not arrange for a vote at any time there was a supreme court vacancy, starting 2 minutes after inauguration. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2292 "2024-03-02T00:06:39Z")
Yeah, let the voters decide. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2293 "2024-03-02T00:07:14Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > (The drawback for the sociopathic side, though, is that vicious dictators sometimes do come to a hanged-from-a-lamppost sort of end.) Also, before the hanging from a lamppost end, there is frequently a time of purging, where the former loyalists of the Dear Leader are jailed or worse. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2294 "2024-03-02T00:17:35Z")
Moderating: This thread is getting far off track from its topic. Please take tangential discussion elsewhere. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2295 "2024-03-02T00:28:37Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > even this Supreme Court is unlikely to say “A Republican is immune from prosecution and can do whatever he likes but a Democrat is guilty until proven innocent and any elections where a Democrat wins are automatically fraudulent.” Oh, sweet summer child. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2296 "2024-03-02T00:57:40Z")
Moot point but can the USSC even order order a lower court to hear a case en banc after a three judge panel has issued a ruling? On another note, would the Chief Justice ever pressure an associate to recuse when there is a conflict involving said associate’s wife? Or any other blatant conflict, for that matter? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2024, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2297 "2024-03-02T01:27:46Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > But what if they…didn’t? What if they decided to throw the rule book in the gutter? I hope this is not continuing a tangent, but the Dems CAN’T do that, because that would also spell the end of our government as we know it. I have to support the Dems’ efforts to weather the storm, playing within at least the broadest outlines of the rules, and hoping there are enough sane voters and judges to prevail. If a president succeeds in refusing to leave office, we are truly fucked. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2298 "2024-03-05T23:41:13Z")
Listening to all the election coverage so far tonight, I wonder how unleashed mr smith will be should trump lose in November. If the trial hasn’t started then, with he add indictments on trump? He streamlined this to get it onto the court calendar. What if that calendar is throw open? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2024, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2299 "2024-03-06T01:15:29Z")
I’m happy to wait and see how the election turns out, then wonder what. ---
**Author:** ![kay1864](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kay1864/32/16024_2.png) [@kay1864](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kay1864)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2300 "2024-03-28T16:29:30Z")
Bunch of assumptions, but I think they’re pretty sound… followed by my question for the board: 1. SCOTUS rules in June that he doesn’t have immunity 2. Chutkan sets an August trial date, on the basis of: A. She absolutely does not care that he’s in the middle of a campaign (she’s already on record that former presidents enjoy no special conditions on criminal liability) B. The American people have the right to know if the nominee is a criminal, before the election (I’m parrotting Jack Smith, but I’m guessing she agrees with that logic) C. TFG’s crime is germane to the election itself 3. Trial lasts 6 to 8 weeks, per Jack Smith (Chutkan is also on record that she will not put up with his lawyers’ delays, once the case starts) 4. Then, unless there’s a rogue Trump juror (unlikely due to DC jury pool and voir dire, but yeah, remotely possible), jury returns a verdict of guilty, by October. 5. Why guilty? Because we already know his defense is weak (“client was exercising his First Amendment rights”) 6. That means his appeal will also be weak 7. Therefore… Per Federal DOJ rules, once Chutkan announces the sentence, and after his lawyers file their appeal…sometime thereafter (a week or so? dunno), she will announce that she has evaluated the merits of his (weak) appeal, found it lacking, and therefore the convicted TFG is immediately remanded to custody, and begins serving a 10+ year prison sentence. A. No “free on bond pending appeal”, due to his weak appeal (DOJ rules) B. Note that she is not ruling on the appeal itself, but only on its strength. That’s part of the sentencing judge’s prerogative, to determine when the sentence begins. C. In this case, although the jury decides his guilt, the judge decides the sentence. D. No, she will not give him a sentence of house arrest (see 2A), for attempting to overthrow the government. 8. From what I’ve read, in Federal trials, the judge normally announces the sentence one to two months after the conviction. This could indicate a November announcement, but more likely December. **Q1** : But… would she likely delay it until after the inauguration, due to the potential for violence? (I’m thinking yes, but some might question why she took so long) **Q2** : How long do Federal sentencing judges normally take to evaluate the appeal, to determine “remanded to custody” versus ”free on bond pending appeal”? (dammit Siri, not “Freon bond”) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2301 "2024-03-28T16:34:48Z")
> [@kay1864](#): > > **Q1** : But… would she likely delay it until after the inauguration, due to the potential for violence? (I’m thinking yes, but some might question why she took so long) This assumption doesn’t fit with your prior assumptions about the judge wanting justice and not caring about the broader political ramifications. And there is also zero guarantee that you’d prevent violence by delaying after the inauguration. If they were going to riot before the inauguration, they’ll riot afterward too. My guess, and I assume this will also be the guess of the people whose actual job it is to make these decisions, is that what happened January 6 was a perfect storm of circumstances that will not repeat again, and certainly can’t happen now. That’s not to say there would be no violence in response, nutjob is as nutjob does, but no large scale violence like we saw before. ---
**Author:** ![kay1864](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kay1864/32/16024_2.png) [@kay1864](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kay1864)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2302 "2024-03-28T16:39:01Z")
Q3. If the convicted felon is a flight risk, can/does a judge have them held in custody between “announcement of sentence”, and “announcement of evaluation of appeal”? ---
**Author:** ![kay1864](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kay1864/32/16024_2.png) [@kay1864](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kay1864)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2024, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/2303 "2024-03-28T16:41:00Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > This assumption doesn’t fit with your prior assumptions about the judge wanting justice and not caring about the broader political ramifications. Yes, but I was talking more about “effect on election”, not “concern about public violence” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455.md?page=114) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455.md?page=116)