# 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:** 20
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/382 "2023-08-02T12:41:26Z")
I had no whiskey or beer in the house to celebrate with last night, but this morning I’m drinking my coffee out of a big orange “Indicted” mug that my wife ordered for me after the Florida indictment. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/383 "2023-08-02T12:41:42Z")
I’m curious to see the extent to which the different courts coordinate their dockets. For example, should loose Cannon choose to delay proceedings in FLA, I assume the DC Ct would not necessarily assume they need to wait until that proceeding is completed. OTOH, they certainly would not want to schedule trials to occur at the same time. To what extent will Cheeto hire discrete legal teams, or will his current lawyers use the multiple indictments to urge delay of one or the other - or, more likely, both. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/384 "2023-08-02T12:50:31Z")
Heh. I can see it now… Let’s say both trials are scheduled in March. Trump team files a motion in each venue separately, noting the simultaneous schedule of the other venue, and requests a postponement to July. Postponements are granted. Trump team then files a motion in each venue separately, noting the other venue’s competing trial date, and requests a postponement to November. I mean, it’s stupid, but this is Trump we’re talking about, he’ll try literally anything to run out the clock. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/385 "2023-08-02T13:16:01Z")
The DC judge appears to be a very competent and sharp one (and an Obama appointee), so it seems highly unlikely that she’d allow that. Hopefully she’ll schedule the trial for this one well before the other one. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/386 "2023-08-02T13:16:03Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I imagine that his actions involving the incitement of a crowd to attack the Capitol would not need to be part of this. While they’re related, they’re not the same incident. > > (IANAL and could be wrong.) > > That said, I don’t expect charges for incitement or insurrection due to how hard it would be to prove that, even if it seems obvious, and the 1/6 committee made a good case to the public. The Globe and Mail headline says: [Trump indicted by grand jury for plot to overturn 2020 election, inciting Jan. 6 mob - The Globe and Mail](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-politics/article-donald-trump-indicted-by-grand-jury-for-plot-to-overturn-2020-us/#:~:text=Donald%20Trump%20has%20been%20criminally,former%20president%20has%20yet%20faced). But it’s paywalled. Can anyone here read the article? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/387 "2023-08-02T13:16:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, there has to be some process for determining whether a given person has committed insurrection, and is thus ineligible. The Amendment doesn’t lay out any such process, but what could it be other than a criminal trial? The same courts that handle other election disputes. Trump initiated many cases trying to get the election overturned. He argued, for example, that changes in the law to allow mail-in votes were unconstitutional. He said that all the mail-in votes were illegal per se, and should be excluded. If the claim had any merit, the judge had the legal authority to exclude the votes. The various judges ruled thast the claim had no merit. Why wouldn’t the same court have the authority to rule on whether Trump is eligible to run? As I say, IANAL, but that’s how it seems to this layman. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/388 "2023-08-02T13:20:46Z")
So let me ask about venue. The Jan 6 indictment will be heard in DC. Not Florida. With regard to the documents case, many are worried that based on her previous rulings, Judge Cannon may try to actively help the guy that hired her. What about in DC? Are there any known nutjobs on the bench there? Do we face the same danger of being assigned a judge who shows Trump undue deference and spews out all kinds of rulings to help delay a trial until after the election? ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/389 "2023-08-02T13:36:58Z")
Another question for our resident legal eagles - this latest indictment names only Trump but lists a half dozen other co-conspirators. I heard talking heads say last night that the reason he alone is named in this indictment is because it would necessarily slow things down if the indictment named a bunch of other defendants. I know in civil cases there’s a thing called ‘bifurcation’ where the courts break a trial up into essentially two separate trials, resolving one issue first, like liability, and afterwards have another trial to deal with damages. Is there opposite thing where courts can decide to _consolidate_ cases after indictments have been issued? So for instance Trump has been already been indicted, but a few weeks from now John Eastman, Sydney Powell, Rudy et al. end up getting indicted separately. Could those defendants then move for the court to combine their cases with Trump so they could all be tried together and thereby be able to impose all the necessary delays the talking heads were referring to? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/390 "2023-08-02T13:37:19Z")
Which case, DC or FL, will require more time for the defense to get up to speed? In one case you’ve got lots of documents and a few witnesses in the other there are no documents but lots of witness testimony. I hope the DC judge figures OK, we know that Cannon’s in the tank for the defense and will delay the triral for one reason or another until the devil wears long johns, let’s set the DC date for say March 1 and if the prosection can present its case in 2 months that will not interfere with the Cannon circus. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/391 "2023-08-02T13:39:02Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > This cogent legal analysis is somewhat undermined by the fact that “proven innocent” is not a thing in American jurisprudence. you know what I meant. 1.There’s a trial. 2.There’s a verdict, in which the defendant is let free with no punishment. 3. The public understands this,legitimately, as “they didn’t have any proof to lock him up, so that proves that he is innocent”. 4.I call that “proven innocent”–even if American jurisprudence doesn’t use that phrase. And , no matter what phrase you use, if such a verdict comes before November, it will propel Trump back into the White House. It may be better to postpone the trials. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/392 "2023-08-02T13:48:41Z")
When I skimmed the indictment last night, I missed this little tidbit. But Heather Cox Richardson pointed it out in her daily missive. I had to chuckle when I read this. > With respect to the persistent false claim regarding State Farm Arena, on December 8, the Senior Campaign Advisor wrote in an email, "When our research and campaign legal team can’t back up any of the claims made by our Elite Strike Force Legal Team, you can see why we’re 0–32 on our cases. I’ll obviously hustle to help on all fronts, but it’s tough to own any of this when it’s all just conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership.” This can be found at the bottom of page 13 of the indictment document. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/393 "2023-08-02T14:00:45Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > There’s a verdict, in which the defendant is let free with no punishment. I thought you said it could only take one juror. That’s NOT a verdict. Even the general public doesn’t consider a hung jury as “proof” of innocence. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/394 "2023-08-02T14:00:52Z")
> [@MulderMuffin](#): > > Instead of Sidney Powell being the batshit crazy lawyer, it could also conceivably be Lin Wood… I’ll bet seven tubrous begonias that’s a no - too ineffectual/fringe compared to the other numbered ones. > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > …involving [Jinni] at this time just seems like a great way to derail the Trump trial. Jack Smith’s not too derailable - press on. > [@chappachula](#): > > If the trial(s) are held before November 2024, and if Trump is proven innocent by a jury, the backlash will be yuuuuge. > Huge enough to convince the swing voters. Nope. Swing voters will note the MAGA juror, not the innocence verdict. ---
**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:** [August 2, 2023, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/395 "2023-08-02T14:02:09Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > Do we face the same danger of being assigned a judge who shows Trump undue deference and spews out all kinds of rulings to help delay a trial until after the election? Judge Tanya Sue Chutkan was an Obama nominee who was confirmed in 2014 with a vote of 95-0. She is a well respected, fair-minded, common sense jurist with a background as a public defender. She’s as fine a judge as could be had, and both sides should be happy with her. Trump will do his best to delay, but there are few issues that will permit it in this case as it is very lean and straightforward. Line up your witnesses and try it – as is done in hundreds of courtrooms around the country every single day. As for carving out the co-conspirators, the control over when the indictment is handed up to start those proceedings is entirely up to Jack Smith. If he wanted to try them all together, he’d have charged them in the current indictment against Trump. He doesn’t want to. That indictment will come later. Trump may be charged in that one as well, but this current indictment is for Trump alone. That won’t change. ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/396 "2023-08-02T14:05:33Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > [Trump indicted by grand jury for plot to overturn 2020 election, inciting Jan. 6 mob - The Globe and Mail](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-politics/article-donald-trump-indicted-by-grand-jury-for-plot-to-overturn-2020-us/#:~:text=Donald%20Trump%20has%20been%20criminally,former%20president%20has%20yet%20faced). > > But it’s paywalled. Can anyone here read the article? I opened it in an ordinary and incognito window just fine. Perhaps your location is paywalled. Didn’t have any new or additional information. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/397 "2023-08-02T14:07:04Z")
I just want to be on record as having predicted that – if it IS Ginni Thomas, and if any substantive part of this makes it to the Supreme Court of the United States, her husband – Justice Clarence Thomas – will STILL not recuse himself from the case. Thank you. ---
**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:** [August 2, 2023, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/398 "2023-08-02T14:49:59Z")
i heard on msnbc last night 4 pm thursday. messing with rush hour will not endear him to the jury pool. i believe they could get this trial in before the end of the year. there are no classified issues. the discovery could be a ton of stuff, but that is why you have staff. the earliest date would be 70 days after thursday. that would put it in mid october. so nov. or dec. is wide open right now. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/399 "2023-08-02T14:50:04Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > s there opposite thing where courts can decide to _consolidate_ cases after indictments have been issued? So for instance Trump has been already been indicted, but a few weeks from now John Eastman, Sydney Powell, Rudy et al. end up getting indicted separately. Could those defendants then move for the court to combine their cases with Trump so they could all be tried together and thereby be able to impose all the necessary delays the talking heads were referring to? In theory that could happen. The Court would have discretion to allow it or not. Usually co-defendants want separate trials, so motions to sever are more common. If I were the Judge hearing such a motion, I’d say “I’ll grant your motion if you want, but you have to understand if you join this case, trial will be in January and I’m not granting any continuances. Do you still want me to grant your motion?” Federal Criminal Rule 42 > a) **Consolidation**. If actions before the court involve a common question of law or fact, the court may: > > (1) join for hearing or trial any or all matters at issue in the actions; > > (2) consolidate the actions; or > > (3) issue any other orders to avoid unnecessary cost or delay. > > (b) **Separate Trials**. For convenience, to avoid prejudice, or to expedite and economize, the court may order a separate trial of one or more separate issues, claims, crossclaims, counterclaims, or third-party claims. When ordering a separate trial, the court must preserve any federal right to a jury trial. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/400 "2023-08-02T15:04:10Z")
“Conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership” probably got the biggest laugh out of me when I was reading the indictment last night. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2023, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/401 "2023-08-02T15:27:07Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > “Conspiracy shit beamed down from the mothership” It drives me nuts that even his own people recognize the conspiracy theory nonsense, but still decide to work for him. I simply cannot understand the mindset of people who are that devoted to evil and corruption. At least if they were delusional themselves, it would make sense in a kind of Bizzaro-logic. But these guys know it’s nonsense! [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=19) [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=21)