# 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:** 65
**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:** [August 18, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1282 "2023-08-18T21:12:24Z")
But you don’t _understand_! Once he goes to trial he’s toast. The best defense is delay, delay, delay, and hope he kicks it before the trial starts. A slender reed but it’s all his defense team has. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1283 "2023-08-18T21:20:06Z")
> [@CoolHandCox](#): > > There are three elements of the offense of making an illegal threat: (i) there must be a transmission in interstate commerce; Does a phone call from Alvin, TX to Houston, TX count as interstate commerce, by virtue of using a phone system that crosses state lines? Or is considered a purely Texan communication? > [@rocking\_chair](#): > > the gov. had 3 years, we should get 3 years. They’ve already had the same three years the government did. That’s the way time works. ---
**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:** [August 18, 2023, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1284 "2023-08-18T22:04:25Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s the way time works. Username, sentiment irrefutable. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1285 "2023-08-18T23:01:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That’s the way time works. As Ziggy says, “Time is nature’s way of keeping everything from happening all at once.” ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1286 "2023-08-18T23:26:46Z")
> [@MulderMuffin](#): > > Now, I can see the argument against relying on your opponent to tell you what’s important. But it’s also ludicrous to insist that each and every one of those millions of pages of discovery are vitally important and must be thoroughly analyzed for the next 2+ years. The case is relatively straightforward. If he needs a few more people to help the lawyers go through everything in time, well, he can hire more people. It’s not the prosecutors’ job to coddle defendants. Only to give them a fair opportunity to defend themselves. Does the judge get to see this too? So if the DOJ organizes everything to make it easy for Trump’s team but Trump’s team decides to just throw everything into a big pile on the floor and disregard the helpful DOJ organizing (with the implicit goal of making discovery take longer than it should), can the judge call Trump’s team out for shenanigans? “Hey, it was all organized for you! Just because your client can’t read doesn’t mean you get to forget how to read too!” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2023, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1287 "2023-08-18T23:55:59Z")
The judge gets to set the trial date. If the defense squanders the time until that trial date, that’s no concern of the judge. ---
**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 19, 2023, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1288 "2023-08-19T00:34:20Z")
My theory is that since it took them roughly two months to execute the crime, two months should be enough time to prepare to stand trial for it. ---
**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 19, 2023, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1289 "2023-08-19T00:36:20Z")
I like that theory. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2023, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1290 "2023-08-19T00:38:04Z")
Seriously. And while they’re asking for arbitrary time frames for things, maybe they can overlook the time that the DOJ spent sitting on their hands. Start the clock when Smith was appointed? ---
**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 19, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1291 "2023-08-19T00:51:28Z")
That would be 7 months. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2023, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1292 "2023-08-19T00:52:16Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Start the clock when Smith was appointed? It’s a false equivalence and should be dismissed out of hand, rather than trying to invent different time frames based on what the prosecutors did before the indictment. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2023, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1293 "2023-08-19T07:27:04Z")
I agree. But the DOJ did spend a lot of time _not_ investigating Trump. ---
**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 19, 2023, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1294 "2023-08-19T13:55:54Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > can the judge call Trump’s team out for shenanigans? “Hey, it was all organized for you! Just because your client can’t read doesn’t mean you get to forget how to read too!” Well, consider how often they cite experts in court cases. Do we give the defendant enough time to go to university and get a degree, so they can understand the DNA evidence being used against them? Hell no, we expect them to hire their own experts, and rely on the expert’s analysis. No different here. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1295 "2023-08-20T03:07:05Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > April 2026. That’s when Trump’s attorneys want the trial to start. It occurs to me that Trump realizes he is going to lose the 2024 election and wants his trial in 2026 because at that point in time he’ll be the clear front runner for the Republican nomination for President in the 2028 election and he’ll be able to claim election interference again. Trump intends to spend the rest of his life running for President while also claiming the job has been stolen from him _even if he wins_. ---
**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 21, 2023, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1296 "2023-08-21T20:41:49Z")
doj’s responce to the suggestion of a trial date of 2026 has landed. still looking for the document, however here is a quote from abc news: Members of special counsel Jack Smith’s team said in a court filing that Trump’s lawyers last week had exaggerated the amount of material that they would need to sift through in order to be ready for trial. In suggesting an April 2026 trial date, defense lawyers said they had been provided by prosecutors with 11.5 million pages of potential evidence to review. But prosecutors said much of that includes duplicate pages or information that is already public, such as documents from the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol as well as copies of Trump’s social media posts. “In cases such as this one, the burden of reviewing discovery cannot be measured by page count alone, and comparisons to the height of the Washington Monument and the length of a Tolstoy novel are neither helpful nor insightful; in fact, comparisons such as those are a distraction from the issue at hand — which is determining what is required to prepare for trial,” prosecutors wrote. found it! [gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.32.0.pdf (courtlistener.com)](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.32.0.pdf) ---
**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:** [August 21, 2023, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1297 "2023-08-21T21:17:38Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > “In cases such as this one, the burden of reviewing discovery cannot be measured by page count alone, and comparisons to the height of the Washington Monument and the length of a Tolstoy novel are neither helpful nor insightful; in fact, comparisons such as those are a distraction from the issue at hand — which is determining what is required to prepare for trial,” prosecutors wrote. “The bottom line is, the defense proposition is a pile of steaming shit.” \*\*\* . . . . . . . . . \*\*\* does not actually appear in document ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1298 "2023-08-21T21:18:23Z")
Between the lines, maybe? ---
**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:** [August 21, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1299 "2023-08-21T22:13:53Z")
This is kind of like what happens when “professional” wrestling meets up with “wrestling” wrestling. ---
**Author:** ![MulderMuffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldermuffin/32/2862_2.png) [@MulderMuffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MulderMuffin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1300 "2023-08-21T23:05:27Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > found it! > > [gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.32.0.pdf (courtlistener.com)](https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149/gov.uscourts.dcd.258149.32.0.pdf) Thank you! An excellent and quick read I encourage everyone to check out. The words “Burn!” and “smackdown” come to mind ---
**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 21, 2023, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/doj-jack-smith-investigation-into-trump-and-election-interference-january-6th-insurrection-re-indicted-august-27-2024/975455/1301 "2023-08-21T23:14:55Z")
Indeed, as always, with Smith’s pleadings. 🙂 [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=64) [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=66)