I think Secret Service agents consider themselves as something more than a prison guard. I might be wrong.
You’re correct. I’m just so sick of Trump being protected to destroy the very fabric of our society and our country by relentlessly undermining faith in our institutions. When you think how far we’ve fallen in the eight years since that miserable excrescence came to political prominence…
Sometimes it gets to me.
I have a friend who spent a few year as a prison guard. “Never again,” he says. It was the worst job he ever had.
I wonder if Trump would like the trial televised? I know he loves to make a spectacle of things, but he can’t control things during the trial. Even if he took the stand he couldn’t go off on a tangent when the prosecution asks him a question. And I don’t know if he actually wants the camera on him during the proceedings. He might say he wants cameras in the courtroom but I don’t think he actually does.
Really, though. All they have to do is control access to Trump; not be in physical proximity. There aren’t Secret Service agents in the Oval Office; just agents controlling access. A prison cell or yard that the prisoner can’t leave at his own liberty makes this even easier.
I’d think working in the White House is much nicer than working in a prison. Also, the president is often moving about so the scenery changes. In prison they will just be sitting in a prison for eight hours per shift. Day after day after day. Maybe they will see it as an easy gig though. I dunno.
Trump walked back his “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU” statement.
It was all an innocent misunderstanding!
Fraud squad, obstruction of justice squad, extortion squad, insurrection squad, inciting riots squad.
And now making threats against the President of the United States of America.
I’m sure I missed a few. But that should be enough.
If Trump never takes the stand, then the trial will be even more boring than I originally thought, and thus very easy for Foxnews to ignore.
They could just read a 30 second long summary of what happened that day, in a monotone, bored voice. Then blast some exciting music, and get to the real news.
" In court today, Trump was accused of inciting a riot, but his lawyers responded that under the First Amendment Trump did no wrong."
(begin music…)
And at the same time, Hunter Biden was spotted in an airport bar using his laptop!!! Here’s our reporter on the scene at the airport to tell us all about it.!!!
The result is the same as I mentioned before: The swing voters who will determine the future of democracy as we know it…will not pay any attention to the trial.
.
Out in the world, the Secret Service only has to guard against the possibility of an attack. In a prison the likelihood of some fool with a life sentence who wants fame trying his luck gets much higher.
I’d give real money to see the prosecution’s list of witnesses.
Is there any realistic way for this trial to end up with a guilty verdict? Just one MAGA follower on the jury is all that’s needed to prevent a unanimous guilty decision. They’re not going to convict their savior, and they’re not swayed by facts anyway. It seems like it would be hung jury after hung jury no matter how solid the case was or how many times they try the case. It would be like trying to get Christians to convict Jesus of something.
That is my fear. But, perhaps Trump will be stuck in a courtroom for the rest of his traitorous miserable life.
I doubt if Trump will ever be in jail ( It only takes one juror to prevent the guilty verdict)
But if he ever does go to jail, he won’t be in the general populuation of a regular prison. He’ll be isolated. in his own area, even if the prison has to build a new gate or two at one end of the tier.
Was going to say that that would drive him crazy. But that trip has already been made.
A hung jury is a verdict of innocence. As soon as Trump walks out of the courtroom, he is a free man, and will be legitimately able to tweet in all caps
"the liberals FAILED in their witch hunt!!!
There will be genuine, real excitement generated in ALL the media, from MsNBC to Fox…and the nonstop talking will keep Biden’s name off screen for weeks, while sweeping Trump back into the White House.
IIRC a hung jury is a mistrial. Unanimity goes both ways (guilty or not guilty).
IANAL
Though possibly a picayune clarification, “innocent” is not a verdict issued by American juries:
No, it isn’t. It isn’t a verdict at all. It simply means that 12 people were unable to agree on an appropriate outcome of a trial.
The usual outcome of a hung jury is a retrial.
IANAL, but I spent a career in courtrooms as a judge’s assistant. I participated in a lot of trials.
Technically it’s correct that a hung jury is a mistrial, but when have facts ever gotten in the way of what MAGA followers want to believe? Throngs of MAGA followers will shout the message that Trump is innocent and has beaten all charges. That false message will be reinforced by non-stop messaging in biased news outlets and social media platforms that Trump was victorious. Hopefully there are enough of the electorate who will vote for Biden over Trump regardless of the outcome of the trial. I’m worried that the people hoping for a guilty verdict will be disillusioned if it’s a hung jury and not vote at all. I think it’s important for messaging to get out now that a hung jury is likely and not to give up just because it’s not a guilty verdict.
As others have said, it’s NOT a “verdict of innocence.” However, to the ignorant MAGAnuts and sycophants who worship DJT, a hung jury constitutes (excuse the expression) the APPEARANCE of innocence. “Innocent until proven guilty,” is what they learned on TV, so to them if he wasn’t proven guilty for whatever reason, then he is innocent. These folks don’t care about the niceties and subtleties of law. Or the realities of law, for that matter.
What @filmore said.
Interesting article in the NYT that goes through the indictment in more detail. Outlines issues such as the degree of knowledge that Trump had, the legal advice defence, and so on.
Closes with the point that on the legal defence, it’s not enough to find one lawyer who makes the argument:
“You have to have a genuine good-faith belief that the legal advice is legitimate and valid, not just ‘I’m going to keep running through as many lawyers as I can until one tells me something I want to hear, no matter how crazy and implausible it is,’” Mr. Buell said.
Gift link: