Bit of a nit, but important. He is not charged with taking NDI docs. He is charged with unlawful retention of NDI docs after the appropriate authorities asked for their return, and hiding them from investigators and conspiracy to do same. This choice of charges let the SC sidestep a lot of unsettled law around just when he removed them from the white house and whether it is illegal for a former president to continue to possess those docs post-presidency. But it did lock the case into florida judge.
@Nonilex It is astonishing how every indictment or charge or accusation or election loss involving Trump has been rigged against him. It is almost like these disparate entities bringing charges and accusations were in collusion with one another. However, I live in the real world and I know that’s not happening, nor could it happen. Donald J Trump is a guilty AF of everything that’s been lodged against him. @Nonilex, thank you for all you do. @GottaLaff ♥️
@GottaLaff@Nonilex For sure. It’s been a couple of years back I first heard the phrase directed @ Trump & MAGA, “every accusation is a confession”. I initially thought it was hyperbole, but have come to realize that there is more truth to it than I am comfortable acknowledging. -Peace
The case is tied up in efforts by Trump’s attys to have the charges against him dismissed before they go to trial. To that end, the attys have filed a barrage of motions attacking the #indictment on a number of grounds. Those include claims that #JackSmith was improperly appointed to his job & that he filed the charges as part of a politicized effort to harm #Trump. [aka the “I’m a victim” defense]
[#Trump appointee] Judge #AileenCannon …recently scrapped the trial’s start date … in May & has not yet scheduled a new one. In doing so, she cited the “myriad & interconnected” legal issues she has yet to resolve.
It appears increasingly unlikely that the case will go in front of a jury before the election…. That is largely because of Cannon’s habit of holding time-consuming hearings on arguments raised by the defense that many other judges would have decided on the merits of written filings.
The case has been frozen… since early Dec as a series of courts in Washington have considered an expansive & novel (BS) claim he has raised in his own defense: that he is #immune to all of the charges in the #indictment because he claims they arose from ofcl acts as president.
#SCOTUS is supposed to render a decision on the question of #immunity, & the ruling will go towards determining when the case will go to trial.
There’s a narrow path for a trial to be held before Nov. But it’s more likely that it will be sent back to district court Judge #Chutkan, to determine which of the charges stemmed from ofcl acts & which should be thought of as strictly private ones. That process, which could affect the scope of the charges the #jury hears, could take wks or even months.
#SCOTUS is expected to rule soon on another case that could affect the scope & timing of the election interference prosecution. That case concerns the viability of a federal #obstruction#law that prosecutors have used to accuse #Trump of encouraging a mob of his supporters to disrupt the certification of the election that took place at the Capitol on #Jan6, 2021.
If Trump is elected, he could have his #DOJ dismiss the charges. Even w/o that step, policy forbids prosecuting a sitting president
#Trump & 18 of his allies were indicted in #FultonCounty, GA, last Aug, in a #RICO case. The case was brought by the DA #FaniWillis.
But the #racketeering case is unlikely to go to trial this yr. Part of the delay stems from an affair between Willis & the atty she hired to run the case, Nathan Wade. Defense claimed it created a conflict of interest.
Judge McAfee, held many hearings on the topic & decided not to disqualify Willis, if Wade stepped down; he did.
Those hearings are hardly the only matter weighing on the case. Dozens of pretrial motions have yet to be resolved, including recent sparring over the #precedent in a legal case from the 1890s.
Then there are appeals. Defense lawyers have appealed the disqualification decision to the #Georgia Court of Appeals, while DA #FaniWillis’s office has appealed Judge McAfee’s decision to quash a few charges.
Whether a sitting president can be tried in a state court is an untested #legal matter that is sure to be fought out in higher courts.
4 of #Trump’s 19 original co-defendants have already pleaded #guilty & taken deals w/the prosecution, including #SidneyPowell & Kenneth #Chesebro, a legal architect of the plan to deploy #FakeElectors who has become a witness in 5 different state election inquiries.
#JennaEllis said in court during her guilty plea: “If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald #Trump in these postelection challenges,” adding, “I look back on this experience w/deep remorse.”
@PJ_Evans@Nonilex When I was a baby lawyer, a very wise mentor advised me, "Fight hard. See that your client receives passionate representation. But in the end, if someone is going to jail, make sure it's not you."
@Burn_this_ The indictment or criminal prosecution of a sitting President would undermine the capacity of the executive branch to perform its constitutionally assigned functions. While in Trump’s situation, his capacity is already undermined by his constant criming & the case is serious, there’s too great a potential for bad actors to bring frivolous suits to interfere w/ the function of the executive.