The Trump Hush-Money Trial Is Pretty Thin Soup

It’s certainly not likely that Donald Trump is going to be found guilty in the Stormy Daniels litigation presently holding the nation’s attention. First, it requires a unanimous decision by the jury, a steep hill to climb under any circumstances and certainly a mountain in the prosecution of an ex-president.

Being a Chicago area native, I’m reminded of Al Capone’s incarceration

Capone was never convicted of any of his historic and multiple crimes as a gangster extraordinaire. St. Valentine’s Day Massacre or not, they never touched him for anything he did. They got him for something he didn’t do. He went to Alcatraz for tax evasion, another case of ‘pretty thin soup’ for a major criminal.

The Trump game-plan has been working pretty well so far

Delay by any means possible, deny any responsibility, blame someone else, denigrate the courts, the prosecutors and witnesses and, if found guilty, appeal. Should the appellate court find against him, as it did in the D.C circuit court ruling*, simply take the case to the Supreme Court.

Which he did.

Now, all the Supreme Court needed to do was sit on their hands and Mr. Trump would have been permanently barred from ever again holding elective office. The ‘airtight, no wiggle-room’ finding by the D.C Circuit Court would have prevailed. Not only prevailed, but done so well ahead of the Republican Convention (Milwaukee, WI, July 15-18) when another candidate could have been nominated.

They sat, but not on their hands, agreeing to hear the case

(PBS Apr. 25, 2024) “The Supreme Court on Thursday appeared likely to reject former President Donald Trump’s claim of absolute immunity from prosecution over election interference, but it seemed possible Trump could still benefit from a lengthy trial delay, possibly beyond November’s election.

“Chief Justice John Roberts was among at least five members of the court who did not appear to embrace the claim of absolute immunity that would stop special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Trump on charges he conspired to overturn his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.”

When all else fails, run out the clock

“But in arguments lasting more than 2 1/2 hours in the court’s first consideration of criminal charges against a former president, Roberts also was among several justices who suggested that the case might have to be sent back to lower courts before any trial could begin. Roberts indicated he was unhappy with the reasoning adopted by the federal appeals court that ruled against Trump.

“The timing of the Supreme Court’s decision could be as important as the outcome. Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, has been pushing to delay the trial until after the election, and the later the justices issue their decision, the more likely he is to succeed.

“The active questioning of all nine justices left the strong impression that the court was not headed for the sort of speedy, consensus decision that would allow a trial to begin quickly.”

Well, who needs “a speedy, consensus decision” when it’s only ‘insurrection by a sitting president’ at stake?

Should Trump win the November election and become president, before the Supremes get off their collective asses, the question is moot. A sitting president cannot be charged while in office. There simply are no precedents, as no prior president ever attempted to commit an act of insurrection in an effort to overturn an election result.

Most presidential candidates who failed to win were quick with a congratulatory phone call, or a public statement in the decades before we had telephones.

Not this one.

*Please take the time to read the Atlantic article critique for context