There is rarely a lawyer as confident as a federal prosecutor getting ready to unseal an indictment.
I agree: the feds don’t shoot unless they are absolutely certain they won’t miss. From Tuesday until trial, the defense will be playing catch-up.
And, typically, the facts and the law match up sufficiently well that the best thing an attorney can do is work out a plea.
Here, though, I wonder: first, is donald literally capable of being sufficiently contrite that a judge would accept his plea? And, two, is this a case where the DOJ’s offer is only going to be “plead guilty and we’ll ask the judge to sentence you according to the guidelines” (I.e. we aren’t making any offers, but if you plead guilty we won’t go for the jugular when the judge sentences you)?
Wouldn’t a trial be so much fun?
(Note: the court will issue a trial date at the arraignment, but the defense can - and usually does - file something called an “ends of Justice” motion to continue, which usually adds a delay of several months)
ny times reporting espionage act violation in the indictment. Not sure how they know this but they had the manhattan charge correct before they were unsealed.
Thanks for your attorney’s perspective on all this – it is appreciated!
A trial would be fun, for sure. If it was any defendant other than Trump, I’d say no chance of a trial. But with this guy…? Almost guaranteed.
Trump really has no choice, in his own mind and because he can’t be seen as guilty. He’s boxed himself in so thoroughly that his only available avenue is to attempt to shoot the moon. Rarely works.
To me, one of the best things about these indictments is that Trump is now under the control of the judicial branch. He is going to find out quite quick that he doesn’t call the shots anymore.
Need to keep track of him? Take his passport and give him an ankle bracelet. Want to shut his mouth? Gag orders if he doesn’t comply with pointed prohibitions about what he can discuss in public.
The Espionage Act is an overreaching World War I era law that liberals traditionally dislike.
Espionage isn’t mentioned tonight at NYTimes.com or Washington post.com, so likely not.
I don’t understand the progressive joy here.
We know from polling, since the New York indictment, that bring charged doesn’t hurt Trump. And there’s no way he can exhaust appeals before November 2024.
Where have these CNN panelists been? “Why did Trump take the documents?” He’s a manchild with the mentality of a Kindergartener who believes he’s entitled to whatever he wants, when he wants, and can get away with anything. So far, he has.
