IANAL, but it’s not “just an accusation” of another felony. It’s quite common for an offense to be escalated to a more serious one if it occurs in the course of the commission of a crime or if it constitutes a subsequent coverup, but that charge requires a conviction on the more serious felony.
Long before this arraignment, it was speculated that the financial irregularities that might otherwise be misdemeanors would become felonies if they were carried out in order to hide a more serious crime. This is exactly Bragg’s strategy here, the more serious crime being violations of election law.
As of this moment, Don Jr’s outrageous and dangerous tweet posting a picture of the judge’s daughter is still there. Posted at 12:27 PM today, with 3,350 retweets when I looked at it earlier, but right now up to almost 8,500 retweets, of which I’m sure all the slavering retweeters are heavily armed rednecks. The Orange One and his progeny are absolutely nothing less than an all-out goddamned crime family. I wonder if any of these criminal degenerates can explain what they hoped to accomplish by posting her picture.
Okay, I’m late to the party, but: DECEMBER??? Come on!
Why such a long delay? Are we going to see any movement or will it all be behind the scenes? Are any of these other threatened suits going to hit the fan?
In the meantime, he’s going to raise many more millions of dollars (or his minions will for him) and keep running for president.
So, if Trump is released on his own recognizance on condition that he doesn’t say anything stupid, and then he inevitably says something stupid, does that mean that the recognizance is then off the table and he spends the rest of the time until the conclusion of his trial rotting in a jail cell?
Well, “stupid” is in the eye of the beholder. There’s no gag order, because as a declared candidate, Trump has to be able to campaign, make speeches, hold rallies, etc., and he can say stupid things totally unrelated to his legal worries. But I’m sure that if his words caused his followers to threaten and intimidate anybody involved in the legal process (as on January 6), some sanction would result. Aspenglow’s sanction makes a lot of sense, and would (IMHO) be the most likely result.
There would be many, many steps between where we are and where he’d have to be to get locked up pre-trial. As of now, there isn’t even a gag order in place. So, he’d get one free stupid comment, then a gag order. Then he’ll violate that, and the judge will tell him not to do it again. Then he’ll do it again, and the Judge will say “next time…something something.” Maybe a fine. Maybe eventually house arrest, but even that seems unlikely.
