# What happens if Trump is indicted in Georgia? (Indicted on August 14, 2023) **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [February 17, 2023, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928 "2023-02-17T03:14:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 74
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1461 "2023-09-10T02:13:01Z")
Just noticed the thread I posted in (which is not a Federal trial)…oops. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1462 "2023-09-10T02:13:22Z")
If anybody is interested, “Trump and the Georgia Conspiracy” is on CNN right now (Saturday night, 10 - 11 PM Eastern). ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1463 "2023-09-10T02:15:11Z")
Are you watching it? If yes, you’ll have to let us know if you learn anything you didn’t already know. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1464 "2023-09-10T02:17:05Z")
Yes, watching it. It’s drilling down deeper than the three minute sound bites we typically get from regular newscasts. But so far (17 minutes in, including commercials), nothing new. I’ll let everybody know if there is. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1465 "2023-09-10T02:18:06Z")
Thanks for taking one for the team! ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1466 "2023-09-10T02:24:57Z")
Well, given regular participation at the Dope, you’ve probably got more knowledge than most of the country anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1467 "2023-09-10T02:28:05Z")
Commercial break. Like I said, drilling down deeper. There were not just threats against the election workers who appeared before the January 6 committee, but against anybody who disagreed with Trump. Giuliani was involved, as we all know, but Eastman started to get involved in the Georgia matter, before he moved on to the federal matter. And remember, this was long before he planted the bug in Trump’s ear about Pence being able to overturn the election, as _president pro tempore_ in the Senate. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1468 "2023-09-10T02:29:50Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > Just noticed the thread I posted in (which is not a Federal trial)…oops. I don’t think anyone can fault you for having trouble keeping up. There are a lot of indictments in a lot of jurisdictions and likely more to come. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1469 "2023-09-10T02:34:59Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Well, given regular participation at the Dope, you’ve probably got more knowledge than most of the country anyway. Thank you, **Eddy**! Ironically, I am not even in the United States, but I’ve studied its government and politics more than most. If I’m doing better than most Americans—well, I guess I studied correctly. Thanks again! ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1470 "2023-09-10T02:36:42Z")
I’m tempted to say, given most Americans’ abysmal knowledge and understanding of their political system and how it works, I’d be damning you with faint praise. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1471 "2023-09-10T02:43:13Z")
Hey, faint praise is praise nonetheless. Thanks again! Surprised at how many Americans do not know their own history, and their political system and governance. Heck, my ex-wife was an American, who studied American history at school (we didn’t), and she was surprised at how much I knew about US history. And subsequently, its constitutional law, which my knowledge of US history helped me study—thanks go to my constitutional law professor at a Canadian law school for that. Damn commercial break again. No, I don’t need Lume deodorant. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1472 "2023-09-10T02:52:07Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Surprised at how many Americans do not know their own history, and their political system and governance. It’s shocking, yet not surprising. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1473 "2023-09-10T03:02:04Z")
Okay, enough of the “American history” hijack. Michael Moore, former US Attorney: If Trump is re-elected in 2024, there remains a question of whether he can pardon himself. Georgia official (I missed his name): It doesn’t matter if Trump is re-elected President of the US; this is a Georgia matter, and he cannot pardon anybody convicted under Georgia law. Including himself. And the show is over. “Trump and Georgia” is gonna get interesting going forward, that’s for sure! ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1474 "2023-09-10T03:32:32Z")
Why do people think that if Trump is elected, he will all of a sudden become a law-abiding citizen? I still think that if Trump is re-elected, he will have proven that _no_ laws apply to him and that includes any state charges anywhere. They may try to throw him in jail but he is definitely going to throw them in jail. He has already publicly announced his revenge plans and this time he has to follow through. Does Fani Willis have a plan for what to do if Trump completely disregards any and all laws and has her jailed (and possibly even executed)? If a state official has a choice between letting it go or getting jailed/dying in the process of trying what difference does it make? Trump’s only possible path forward is to break more laws. As long as there are bootlickers who will follow his illegal orders no one will ever be able to bind him with something as meaningless and unenforceable as state charges. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1475 "2023-09-10T03:54:19Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Why do people think that if Trump is elected, he will all of a sudden become a law-abiding citizen? Has anybody thought that? I’m sure that if Trump returns as President, he will immediately become a tyrant. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1476 "2023-09-10T06:45:50Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > And remember, this was long before he planted the bug in Trump’s ear about Pence being able to overturn the election, as _president pro tempore_ in the Senate. Nitpick: Pence, as Vice President, was president of the Senate. The president _pro tempore_, at that time Chuck Grassley, would act in the VP’s absence, but on that particular occasion the VP would need to present. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1477 "2023-09-10T11:45:12Z")
withdrawn (I was trying to reply to Stratocaster on the federal trial attendance issue that was withdrawn as being for another thread.) ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1478 "2023-09-10T12:08:26Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > I swear, there are people who think Trump is some kind of king or something, and should be treated with ridiculous deference. It’s not him personally. It is that the democratic process should be respected. The judge’s estimate for the Georgia trial is four months, not including the jury selection, for which there is Georgia precedent for it also taking months. And trial date slippage is common. I’m not sure about Georgia, but there is plenty of precedent for adjusting trial times to reduce general election campaigning impact. It seems that there is little Georgia case law for situations where the defendant does not flee but still wants to waive trial attendance. Hopefully Trump will ask for such a waiver and establish for future defendants that it is available. Trial attendance should be regarded as an optional benefit for presumed innocent defendants, not a punishment to be given to unwilling individuals who have not been criminally convicted. P.S. If Trump does attend the trial, this means daily opportunities for dramatic courthouse steps statements with no cross-examination. So the benefit, to the Democratic ticket, of forced trial attendance, is questionable. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1479 "2023-09-10T12:36:07Z")
Attendance at ones own trial is a punishment? Yeah, we just don’t agree on the regal status of Trump. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2023, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928/1480 "2023-09-10T12:44:03Z")
If he doesn’t attend, I predict a loud chorus of “Not allowed to defend himself” from the far right. No matter the circumstances, no matter how much it’s explained in the media that it was his choice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928.md?page=73) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-if-trump-is-indicted-in-georgia-indicted-on-august-14-2023/979928.md?page=75)