Judge: “Mr Trump, you are being charged with plotting to overturn your election loss. How do you plead?”
Trump: “Not guilty.”
He is pleading that he did not try to overturn his election loss… sooo, he is finally admitting he lost the election?
That is, of course, far more eloquent than anything Trump could either think through or articulate. To someone of Trump’s (lack of) intellectual capacity, the strategy doesn’t go beyond “just make up some bullshit and keep repeating it”.
As if Loser Donald knows a single Bible verse. I remember seeing a Howard Stern transcript where he read the number 112 as “eleven-twelve”, so it’s likely another one of his tics.
The wonderful and amazing thing about this is that it would likely never even come up when dealing with a normal defendant, but such is Trump’s reputation and the well-known nature of his integrity that witness and jury tampering is of special concern to the court. It’s exactly like dealing with a mobster.
Well, he’s in the big leagues now. Something he always dreamed of.
That would make a great NFT to add to his collection.
I’m reminded of some pictures I saw recently of Greta Thunberg being arrested at one of her demonstrations. She was perfectly relaxed, at ease, and smiling, because she knew that by being arrested, she was winning.
Whatever he might say, Trump knows that what’s happening with him is not him winning.
I wonder what the Over/Under is on Trump violating that court order? I have a little cash to spare…
Odds are that Trump has little to no knowledge of what constitutes tampering, so he’s going to do it, deliberately or not.
Then things get interesting.
Which is kind of hilarious because he’s got a big lead in what? Which election is he talking about? The one that hasn’t started yet? I could start a straw poll and beat Biden in a theoretical head to head right now. Me, myself, some random dude from the internet who can’t even run for the job! I am 100% certain I could find a corner of the internet where fools would happily pronounce me to be a better alternative than Sleepy Joe. Look, I’m in the lead! No need to bother with this election nonsense, it’s too easy to cheat and the people have already spoken so everyone just move along now.
Trump is declaring himself the winner before the race has even started. He tried a similar tactic back in 2020, telling everyone they should stop counting as soon as he was in the lead. But his fundamental misunderstanding/deliberate ignorance about how races work is not a great defense. It won’t even sell to his own people. Has anyone ever won a NASCAR race because they were in the lead for a second during a warm-up lap?
He very familiar with a number of the Ten Commandments. He’s got graven images, adultery, stealing, coveting, false witness down cold. /end hijack
An entirely interesting article with lots of fascinating little facts I hadn’t heard about today’s court hearing.
Minutes before Trump entered the pin-drop silent room, several federal judges — who have been processing the carnage of Jan. 6, 2021 for more than two years — filed into the public gallery, turning themselves into spectators in a building they typically rule.
.
…Chief Judge James Boasberg, who presided over several of the secret grand jury battles…Alongside him was Judge Amy Berman Jackson…flanked by other judges and magistrate judges, watched Trump’s every move intently…Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya — whose family members were present in the public gallery…
Sounds like it was quite the place to be if you were a DC judge who has been dealing with J6 rioters and insurrectionists for the past couple years. Then there was Jack Smith, silently watching.
Smith said nothing audible during his hour in the room, but repeatedly shot glances at Trump, who occasionally shot them back until their eyes briefly met.
Eh, I didn’t know Rupar’s quote of Turtledove’s tweet would be fully displayed. Will leave it as it is, though.
Well, we can use Trump’s favourite time period: two weeks. As in, “He’ll violate the order in under two weeks.”
But I don’t think he will violate the order. Not directly, anyway. He’s like a Godfather-style mob boss; never responsible for anything, but very good at dropping broad hints to associates about what he would like to have occur. “Y’know, Sonny, that’s a fine witness the feds have there. Be a shame if anything happened to him.”
AKA Double Not 7
Does the constitutional right to a speedy trial apply, pre-charge? Can Smith sit on indictments for the co-conspirators indefinitely, or at some point does he have to bring an indictment?
Yes:
In the first stage — before arrest or indictment, when the suspect remains at liberty — statutes of limitations provide the primary protection against delay, with the Due Process Clause as a safeguard against fundamentally unfair prosecutorial conduct. United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 789, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977); see id., at 795, n. 17, 97 S.Ct. 2044 (Due Process Clause may be violated, for instance, by prosecutorial delay that is “tactical” or “reckless” (internal quotation marks omitted)).
I’d also note that, from a practical standpoint, people will forget stuff as time goes on, the prosecutor’s priorities will move on to other cases, and other things will interfere with the ability of the prosecutor to bring his case, if he delays it overly.
Just to make @DWMarch’s point, and because it’s funny to respond to:
Keeping in mind the point, here’s the poll!
Who do you select for the United States President in 2024 (Actual qualifications waived)
- Our Own DWMarch
- Sleepy Joe Biden
- Tumultuous Trump
0
voters
ETA - in the event this happens, I demand an equally fictional cabinet position for which I am equally unqualified for. Squid Pro Row.
Pence says something a little different. I guess he mysteriously woke up with a spine yesterday, but he made it perfectly clear that he wasn’t asked to pause the voting or send votes back to the states for review, but that Trump wanted him to reject the vote outright so it would go to the state delegations in the house and Trump would win.
The clip I’m referencing is the first one played in this story.
According to a “breaking news” on O’Donnell (about an hour ago since I’m watching a recording), Lauro said the same thing on NewsMax: “At the end, he (meaning Trump) asked Mr Pence to pause the voting for ten days, allow the state legislatures to weigh in and then they could make a determination to audit or reaudit or recertify.”
(According to the indictment, John Eastman considered pausing the process only mostly dead a little violation of the Electoral Count Act.)