# What’s Trump’s Trial Strategy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [June 24, 2023, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060 "2023-06-24T20:14:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/81 "2023-06-27T01:16:40Z")
While I don’t relish punishing anyone, the last post — although possibly correct — makes no sense to me, There is a [long list](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_heads_of_government_who_were_later_imprisoned) of national leaders who have safely been imprisoned. France can do it. Israel can do it. Taiwan can do it. Dozens of much lower income nations can do it. What is so inferior about my own country that it can’t do it? And the idea that secret service agents make better prison guards than those who have been doing it for many years is absurd to me, . Just last year: > **[Four U.S. Secret Service agents suspended over ties to phony cops](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-secret-service-places-agents-leave-over-gifts-phony-cops-2022-04-07/)** > > The U.S. Secret Service has suspended four agents linked to two men accused of impersonating federal law enforcement officers who authorities said gave gifts worth thousands of dollars to agency personnel including one assigned to protect President... And: > **[Biden Secret Service agents sent home after drunk assault report in South Korea](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/biden-security-team-member-arrested-skorea-drunk-assault-police-2022-05-20/)** > > Two U.S. Secret Service agents who were working on Joe Biden's trip to Asia are being sent home after one was accused of drunkenly assaulting a South Korean the day before the president arrived in Seoul, officials said. ---
**Author:** ![Dissonance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Dissonance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dissonance)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/82 "2023-06-27T02:14:42Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > The Secret Service would likely believe that protecting the former president would include ensuring that all such interactions are also safe – otherwise, one prison guard with a grudge and a gun could carry out an assassination. A grudge and a shiv more realistically; sneaking a gun would be a much more difficult task for a guard. The guns are kept locked away to deal with severe rioting, guards don’t normally carry them when interacting with inmates. Or they could hang him in his cell and make it look like a suicide, it took what, all of absolutely no time at all for the conspiracy minded nuts to decide Epstein had been murdered on the Clinton’s orders. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/83 "2023-06-27T15:39:29Z")
I’m incredibly petty. One reason I’d want Trump to actually go to prison vs. house arrest is to cut him off from the grooming routine that he uses that he thinks enhances his appearance. No more spray on tan. No more wacky hair cut/styling to cover his balding. No more individually tailored suits. No more shoes with lifts. No more deferential aides surrounding him at all time. All that stuff. I think that as just an ordinary pasty white balding man in ill-fitting standard issue clothes, one among a whole crowd of similar appearance… well, it’d take away a lot of the mystique of power and invulnerability that attracts many of his followers. ---
**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:** [June 27, 2023, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/84 "2023-06-27T15:42:45Z")
Not to mention the blow to his own self-image. That’s a helluva punishment right there. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/85 "2023-06-27T16:41:35Z")
> [@SunUp](#): > > It’s not easy for anyone to hold out in such a situation, even if you have the moral clarity of Henry Fonda in _12 Angry Men_. (Heck, in the play, Juror #8 offers to vote guilty on the second vote if no one else votes not guilty - if another juror hadn’t flipped, it would have ended halfway through the first act.) Note that there was one trial of a Trump associate (don’t remember who, more’s the pity) who had one juror squeak onto the jury wanting to vote for acquital; when the chips were down, she ended up voting guilty with the rest of the jury because she ended up convinced of guilt, ignoring her previous stance. Trial procedure has really been designed to focus jurors on their job, not on their prejudices to the greatest extent possible. Another factor is that most right wingers are followers; they do what they’re told. That works to the right’s advantage when they can get a crowd of followers together and tell them what to believe and what to do. But in a jury, that follower will be all alone and confused with nobody helpfully giving him directions. And there will be eleven other people in the rule talking about looking at the evidence and following the law. There’s a good chance the follower will just go along with the group. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/86 "2023-06-27T19:43:04Z")
Not sure this is the best place for this but I think so. As often happens when it comes to court reporting a potential amount of jail time the defendant might face is listed but it is, usually, way off base and crazy long. It might be technically true but, in practice, not close to true. The LegalEagle YouTube channel looks at this for Trump (basically explain the federal sentencing guidelines and how it works…which is complex). The tl;dw version is 17.5 - 22 years in prison for Trump IF he is convicted on all counts. And even that is debatable. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kr8gSdJ_Ggw/maxresdefault.jpg "How Long Will Trump Go To Jail?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kr8gSdJ_Ggw) ---
**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:** [June 27, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/87 "2023-06-27T23:18:03Z")
“This man is not guilty of espionage. He is only guilty of being Donald J. Trump. That is his crime. It is also his punishment. The defense rests.” ---
**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:** [June 27, 2023, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/88 "2023-06-27T23:33:02Z")
Now that Smith has asked that the trial not start until December, Trump’s strategy is set in stone. Delay. This thing isn’t going to start until there is less than a year until the presidential election. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/89 "2023-06-28T00:23:11Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > Now that Smith has asked that the trial not start until December, Trump’s strategy is set in stone. Delay. I have a feeling that Jack Smith has game-planned that. This is why the delay was put in place, to head off any requests for more time. It’s like Smith is preempting their requests for more time before they can make them. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2023, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/90 "2023-06-28T02:53:10Z")
With every day that passes Trump is shorter of breath and one day closer to death. Delay is not the ally he thinks it is. For that matter, nor is the Presidency. He didn’t enjoy being President and it didn’t really insulate him all that much from legal trouble. He’s trading a stint in jail for a stint in hell and more legal trouble when he finishes. He gets to experience fresh betrayal from whichever “best people” decide to take advantage of him in his declining years. Maybe he’ll get a couple more impeachments when his revenge tour doesn’t go as planned. Maybe he’ll be taken down by the 25th Amendment. No matter which way things go, he is going to continually suffer for the rest of his life and he’s going to have even bigger failures and public humiliations taking place of the current ones as the only thing he is ever remember for unto eternity. Jail is actually his best option. At least he’d be treated respectfully in jail. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2023, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/91 "2023-06-28T02:55:31Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Maybe he’ll be taken down by the 25th Amendment. No matter which way things go, he is going to continually suffer for the rest of his life and he’s going to have even bigger failures and public humiliations taking place of the current ones as the only thing he is ever remember for unto eternity. Jail is actually his best option. At least he’d be treated respectfully in jail. Damn. I’m feeling better about reading this. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/92 "2023-06-28T03:12:09Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > With every day that passes Trump is shorter of breath and one day closer to death. I caught the reference. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/93 "2023-06-28T03:21:59Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > No matter which way things go, he is going to continually suffer for the rest of his life and he’s going to have even bigger failures and public humiliations taking place of the current ones as the only thing he is ever remember for unto eternity. Running for President was a major mistake for Trump. If he had stayed out of politics, he would have been able to maintain the public illusion that he was a successful businessman. Instead his legacy will be he’ll be remembered as somebody who failed in the presidency. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2023, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/94 "2023-06-28T09:25:37Z")
That may be his Smith’s strategy. I don’t know. My point was that it doesn’t start until there is less than a year before the election ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/95 "2023-06-28T13:42:43Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > He didn’t enjoy being President and it didn’t really insulate him all that much from legal trouble. Didn’t enjoy being President? Sometimes. But even when it seemed like he was annoyed (impeachments), it may have been an act. It certainly should have been an act, because impeachment without having the votes to convict makes for a publicized win for the defendant. Wish it would happen to Biden, but the Republicans seem too cunning for that. Regarding enjoyment: [The Neurochemistry of Power](https://blog.politics.ox.ac.uk/neurochemistry-power-implications-political-change/) > [@](#): > > Much like addictive drugs, power uses these ready-made reward circuitries, producing extreme pleasure. In moderate amounts, dopamine can enhance dimensions of cognitive function, but may also make people impulsive, less risk-averse and less empathetic. > [@DWMarch](#): > > At least he’d be treated respectfully in jail. This I agree with. It would be like [Al Capone in Eastern State](https://www.easternstate.org/explore/exhibits/al-capones-cell). But it’s is a better strategy for Trump to delay exhaustion of appeals and imprisonment under after the November 2024 Election Day, when he can self-pardon and intimidate states into putting their proceedings on hold. His trial strategy and political strategy require coordination. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/96 "2023-06-28T14:10:06Z")
Where does “enjoyment” enter into this? Apart from trying to figure out what tickles Trump’s pleasure centers, he could be miserable but he’d still be thinking of “Election 2024” as his only hope of avoiding some sort of prison sentence (regardless of the form that “prison” for him would entail.) It doesn’t look like a sound strategy, just the best one he has going for him. Also the one most pleasing to his ego. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/97 "2023-06-28T14:15:07Z")
> [@slicedalone](#): > > what tickles Trump’s pleasure centers I really wish you hadn’t said it that way. 🤢 ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/98 "2023-06-28T14:42:58Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > But it’s is a better strategy for Trump to delay exhaustion of appeals and imprisonment under after the November 2024 Election Day, when he can self-pardon and intimidate states into putting their proceedings on hold. I understand the gist of your point, but it is worth remembering that, even if he wins, donald won’t take office until January of 2025. So if delay is his goal, he needs to be shooting for further out than just after November of 2024. … In my opinion, the trial strategy that he’s using is ok, if he leans into it. donald has been saying that this was all “bravado” - he didn’t actually have anything classified in his possession, but just pretended to because he was being boastful. This has plausibility. Note that the other people heard in the Bedminster recording are all women. Clearly donald was trying to impress them. Just like when he ordered up a round of cokes - donald shows off by flexing his power. So, he just needs to get on the stand and say. “I have a small penis. It’s shaped like a mushroom. I don’t have a sense of humor. I have a big bald spot on the top of my head. I wear poorly fitting suits, and if you saw me shirtless my obesity would be undeniable. “So the only way I can get women to feign interest in me is if I’m important. That’s what this was - just a feeble attempt by a pathetic old man to seem attractive in the eyes of others.” As long as donald follows that script, I think he has a chance. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/99 "2023-06-28T15:34:10Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > As long as donald follows that script, I think he has a chance. So you’re saying he has no chance. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2023, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060/100 "2023-06-28T16:00:00Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > So you’re saying he has no chance. Precisely. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-s-trump-s-trial-strategy/986060.md?page=6)