I dont see why it is such a big problem.
I’ve seen those reality prison shows on TV where the jail is built as a series of separate “pods”. Each pod is about 10 cells facing a central room with a few tables and a TV, holding about 10 prisoners.
It should be easy to set up one full pod just for Trump…
If it’s necessary to have Secret service men nearby, they could do shifts inside the pod along with him, or stand guard outside the pod along with the regular prison guards.
Again, as above, we shouldn’t give a shit. They will cry foul no matter what. Basically they cry foul whenever the world doesn’t bow down and give them everything they want exactly the way they want it. Conduct the trial correctly and fuck them.
Maybe they will do that. Sucks for the other nine guys who have to double up somewhere and should be totally unacceptable if this is a jail where they are held awaiting trial.
In South Korea, here is what happens:
I don’t see that the dangers of being a former president of South Korea are different in scope than those in the U.S.
Is this the first time the “I’m rubber and you’re glue!” rule has actually been applied in court?
I would put it thuswise:
If none of the trials are televised, trump wins.
Trump, his lawyers and his Republican enablers will spend week after week on TV denigrating the courts, the Bidens and Smith. It will spread much further than the MAGA base.
And on the other side of the ledger will just be second hand accounts of mostly mundane court proceedings.
The evidence just won’t matter if most Americans don’t hear it.
We need to televise the court proceedings, and then crate a PR buzz about how “This is going to be lit! We can watch Trump demolish the Deep State and Sleepy Joe’s Puppets live on TV!!!”, just so that the MAGAts will tune in, and accidentally hear the actual evidence.
This is a man who cannot stand to be called Mr. Trump instead of President Trump. A man who is used to his creature comforts and having his whims catered to. I don’t think he’ll view being in jail as any kind of victory. His entire day will be controlled by others. Where he goes, when he eats, what he eats, etc., etc. I don’t believe Trump is daring anyone to throw him in jail, I think he’s just used to escaping the consequences of his actions and expects he can do so here as well.
I’m pretty sure he’s delusional enough to have that tough-guy fantasy of being the one in prison that everyone else fears, but the reality of:
…will absolutely kick his ass in a matter or hours, or maybe even minutes. The first time he’s faced with the reality of not being in control, and not having paid staff catering to his every whim, he’s going to absolutely lose it.
Anyone want to place bets (not literally) on whether Trump will flee the country?
I think he will try to delay trial/sentencing long enough to become president. If he does then all bets are off. If he doesn’t then he’ll run.
The “televise the trial” idea is gaining strength. From what I understand, it is up to roberts.
I believe roberts may just go for it. With all that is happening around his court, he may not want to have more thrown at him. Aside from the main fact of “it is the right thing to do”.
There is no conflict between the duties of prison guards and the duties of the Secret Service. Both have a duty to protect the prisoner: Very well, they can cooperate with that. The prison guards also have the duty to prevent prisoners from escaping: That also does not conflict with the Secret Service.
It might be slightly more complicated than usual to have two different law enforcement agencies tasked with protecting the same person, but those complications are nothing that can’t be worked out.
The SS detail that would have to protect Trump in prison would have to be on someone’s shit-list. Worst. Detail. Ever.
For the prosecution to win, how many of the jury members have to agree? Is it just a majority or could it be a hung trial if their decision is not unanimous?
Trump will win anyway.
Trumps defense is to SHOUT in capital letters and GENERATE EXCITEMENT about the horrible persecution he is suffering from.
And that makes for good ratings, and generating support.
But the prosecution has to speak reasonably and logically. That doesn’t make good ratings.
Even if the they are televised, trials are boring.
There might be a few soundbites, but not enough to sway the voters.
Imagine:
Prosecutor: --“Mr. Trump, did you put the boxes of top secret papers in the bathtub?”
Tump::"Yes, I did…but so what? "
Followed by a long, very boring, recital by the prosecutor, as he enters into the court record the serial numbers of specific documents and their category of classification, and whether they were about defense, or about political issues, etc
That’s not going to generate high ratings from the undecided voters who will be crucial in the election. (It will generate high ratings on MsNBC, etc, but that’s irrelevant.) Trump still wins.
Sorry–when I read “protective order,” I misunderstood it to refer to an order for personal protection, like a domestic violence protective order–that Smith was worried Trump’s insane clown posse were gonna come after him. I thought other folks might have the same misunderstanding.
Except they’re not talking about televising the Mar-A-Lago case. They’re talking about televising the election interference/January 6th case. Which is the subject of this thread. There’s another thread for Mar-A-Lago.
Trials are sometimes boring. And sometimes they’re lively as hell. I know what I’m expecting from Jack Smith’s team.
Doesn’t this argument cut both ways? Isn’t what Trump is doing also election interference, propagating misinformation every time he opens his big mouth?
My understanding is that Smith’s arguing that propagating misinformation is protected speech, except when it’s done in an attempt to break a law. So, saying, “THE ELECTION WAS STOLEN!” is protected; but saying, “THE ELECTION WAS STOLEN and that’s why you should sign on to this slate of false electors in violation of federal law” is not.
Is this correct?
I wouldn’t even bother to sit down.
Well at implied by my previous post, I disagree.
Right wing media went to a lot of trouble to tell their viewers why they didn’t need to watch the Jan 6th hearings. Those that broadcast them would cut away when things like the videos of the violence were shown.
Why? Because their viewers live in a bubble and genuinely believe crap like that Jan 6th was peaceful.
An actual trial is much harder for those channels to ignore, or cut away from. One way or another some trumpists, as well as just the vast plurality of people that don’t normally follow politics, will be confronted with the truth.
Also…you mentioned Trump taking the stand. That would be an absolute dream. Lawyers say that “a few good men” moments don’t happen in real life. But trump is Jack Nicholsons character every day (apart from any sense of duty).
That’s why he would never testify.
How so? It wouldn’t be a worse job than being a prison guard.
A guilty verdict requires a unanimous decision.