# 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:** 40
**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 6, 2023, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/782 "2023-08-06T00:49:50Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Looks like the judge isn’t going to brook any unnecessary delay, in fact intends to [keep the case moving right along](https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/04/politics/trump-truth-social-smith-evidence-2020/index.html) I was so happy to see this. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/783 "2023-08-06T00:50:13Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I’m not biased. Not at all. If I see someone commit a crime, and say they are guilty of said crime. That does not make me biased. It makes me an honest juror. If you conclude that the defendant is guilty because of what you believe you saw and what you believe you heard them say before the trial, and not on evidence presented in the trial, then yes, you are biased. You are not an honest juror because you should have told the court that you had already concluded that the defendant was guilty. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/784 "2023-08-06T00:51:44Z")
If you saw someone shoot another person dead on Fifth Avenue, would you be biased because you thought that person was guilty of homicide? ETA: Obviously, if you witnessed the crime personally, you wouldn’t be on the jury, only on the witness stand. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/785 "2023-08-06T00:55:06Z")
Of course. You would perhaps be a good witness, but not a good juror, unless you honestly believed you could base your verdict based only on the evidence presented in court, and not on your preconceived beliefs. ETA: Reply was before edit. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/786 "2023-08-06T01:15:54Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > If I see someone commit a crime, and say they are guilty of said crime. That does not make me biased. It makes me an honest juror. It makes you a witness, not eligible to serve as a juror. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/787 "2023-08-06T01:24:02Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I hate to think what the Alka-Setzer and Pepto-Bismal bills for Trump’s lawyers must be. Small potatoes compared to what they’re likely paying Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Johnnie Walker, and Captain Morgan. Back on track, I cannot see anything good coming from the motion to protect evidence from Trump himself. If the motion is granted, Trump will say that he, as the defendant, is not being allowed access to the evidence against him. Only his lawyers are, and they’re being muzzled by not being allowed to share it with him. Very unfair! If the motion is denied, Trump will claim a victory. It’s only a small one, but he will likely amplify it until it becomes a major victory over the corrupt DOJ to MAGAts. Who will cite it as evidence of Trump’s innocence. I understand that Trump’s lawyers must file a response by 5:00 pm Monday. I guess we’ll see if they do so by the deadline. ---
**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 6, 2023, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/788 "2023-08-06T01:27:34Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > I cannot see anything good coming from the motion to protect evidence from Trump himself. I can. Witnesses and jurors will be protected from his relentless intimidation tactics. Trump is going to Trump no matter what. All that’s left is to follow the course of justice as close to normal as possible, without fear or favor. In my view, this moment has been a long time coming, and there is just no avoiding it. ---
**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 6, 2023, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/789 "2023-08-06T01:31:12Z")
> [@aurora\_maire](#): > > Sometimes it gets to me, too. Thanks for saying it gets to you, too. I know I’m not the only one here on the Dope. But it still helps to hear it from others now and then. ---
**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:** [August 6, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/790 "2023-08-06T01:57:37Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I hate to think what the Alka-Setzer and Pepto-Bismal bills for Trump’s lawyers must be. I’m thinking of repetitive motion injuries from all the shrugging. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/791 "2023-08-06T02:01:47Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > If you saw someone shoot another person dead on Fifth Avenue, would you be biased because you thought that person was guilty of homicide? Besides what other said: it depends. Maybe it was self-defense. Can you be sure that you saw everything from your angle? And what are the charges? Can the jury pick between 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree murder (depending on the state)? Then there are the conspiracy theory sort of ideas, like a second shooter who fired the deadly shot, and got away. Unlikely, but if the defense claims that, it has to be pondered. If I saw it, I’d be in such a state of shock I’m afraid my memory would be faulty. As for Trump, I generally think he’s a crook. But without hearing the testimony and judge’s instructions, I don’t buy him being definitely guilty of what he’s accused of. IMHO prosecutors often overreach. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/792 "2023-08-06T02:12:32Z")
lol, I don’t need to hear the testimony or judge’s instructions as I… and many of us reading this… followed this crime from November 9th, 2020, onward. > [@The American Coup: 11.9.2020 -](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-american-coup-11-9-2020/925182): > > thinking Trump fired his Secretary of Defense, replaced Esper with Chris Miller. This is a totally normal thing for an outgoing President to prioritize. Esper then says, in an interview in Military Times, that for the George Floyd protests he (Esper) would not support Trump’s desire to invoke the Insurrection Act against the Floyd protesters: [[Google Photos] ](https://photos.app.goo.gl/9xqbCpACp8jJAxHG6) We know if you’re Donald Trump and you want troops on the streets for a Portland police stat… Hell, PG, I literally took off work to see if the attack would succeed. To deny that an insurrection occurred is just that - denial. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/793 "2023-08-06T02:24:19Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Or they could keep him in Trump Tower. I could just imagine him pressed against a window and staring out at the world like a suction-cup Garfield I want him where he has to eat prison food. ---
**Author:** ![ColdBrew50](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@ColdBrew50](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColdBrew50)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/794 "2023-08-06T02:36:34Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I want him where he has to eat prison food. Trump “steaks”? The kind with the marks where the jockey “tenderized” it? ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/795 "2023-08-06T02:37:31Z")
Regarding where he should serve his prison term, if convicted and sentenced, I think that it would be a good use of funds to build a prison specifically for housing this particular prisoner. It could later serve as his presidential library. Of course, transcripts of all of his court cases would be an excellent exhibit in that library. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/796 "2023-08-06T02:41:28Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > > > Or they could keep him in Trump Tower. I could just imagine him pressed against a window and staring out at the world like a suction-cup Garfield > > I want him where he has to eat prison food. Trump likes burnt steaks with ketchup and Big Macs. He’d probably love him some institutional food. I think he should have to eat stuff like rare steaks with no ketchup or steak sauce, sushi and salad. He’d hate it. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/797 "2023-08-06T02:45:58Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > Trump likes burnt steaks with ketchup and Big Macs. He’d probably love him some institutional food. “The good news, Donald, is that while in custody, you can have steak for dinner every night. The bad news is that it will be prepared by the lunch lady from Central High. And you can have as many vegetables as you like. Note that by ‘vegetables,’ we don’t mean ketchup.” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/798 "2023-08-06T02:49:00Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > > [@needscoffee](#): > > > > > [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > > > > > Or they could keep him in Trump Tower. I could just imagine him pressed against a window and staring out at the world like a suction-cup Garfield > > > > I want him where he has to eat prison food. > > Trump likes burnt steaks with ketchup and Big Macs. He’d probably love him some institutional food. I think he should have to eat stuff like rare steaks with no ketchup or steak sauce, sushi and salad. He’d hate it [Nutraloaf](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutraloaf), unsalted. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/799 "2023-08-06T02:58:41Z")
Back to the actual investigation and charges, as opposed to the hoped for resolution. I really appreciate how Smith and the DOJ have built a tight, comparatively simple case around the events. Very little, at least according to my layman’s review, is particularly arcane or dependent upon who knew what/when/where. Much more of he did XYZ and such things violated ABC laws. And apparently we have MNO saying he did indeed -do- XYZ. And likely these call transcripts and texts asking GHI to help him do XYZ. A nice clean build, laid out with minimum fuss for Trump to fight in the courts of law, as opposed to public opinion. ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/800 "2023-08-06T03:02:16Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > I don’t buy him being definitely guilty of what he’s accused of. He is accused of being involved in a wide-ranging conspiracy. Do you believe that he just went along with what everyone around him was plotting and didn’t give a single thought to the legality of any of it? ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2023, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/801 "2023-08-06T03:14:34Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > As for Trump, I generally think he’s a crook. But without hearing the testimony and judge’s instructions, I don’t buy him being definitely guilty of what he’s accused of. IMHO prosecutors often overreach. Being a touch skeptical is fine. And sure, he and the public deserve to hear the details of what he is accused of and by whom (although NOT to threaten them with retaliation). Buuuut, based on his actions to date with various “perfect” calls, and [his own lawyer’s admission that he sought to pause the voting](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-lawyer-admits-indictment-charge-b2387766.html) despite of the laws governing the elections, the charges seem very credible. And this is after he his own failures to challenge the certifications in the courts, during which he almost never managed anything more than innuendo, hearsay, and outright gossip! Over and over and over again Trump has fundamentally said nothing he did was wrong, and rarely challenges the actual facts when it comes to the courts. He just seems to demand that he cannot, will not, be held liable even if the law says he should be. [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=39) [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=41)