State's Right

Once the Georgia indictment of Trump comes down, which will be sometime this month, the full constellation of criminal charges against the former President will be known — two federal and two state prosecutions.

Presumably the federal charges will take precedence in terms of timing, for a variety of reasons.

The two federal cases really need to be tried before next year’s election. Trump is a candidate and voters need to know whether the juries find him innocent or guilty. If he should somehow succeed in getting elected President again, he could easily dismiss the federal cases against him or, if convicted, pardon himself.

In fact the is exactly what he would do. He’s made that clear.

But the state charges are another matter. Both also involve election interference — in 2016 in the New York case and 2020 in Georgia. Even if he were President, he could not easily escape the state cases, nor could he pardon himself if convicted.

Therefore, under the virtually unthinkable scenario that Trump should once again come to power, the only way of holding him accountable for his criminality may be those two state cases.

Thus two prosecutors, one in the North and one in the South, may hold the key to the good guys winning a second Civil War, should it come right down to it. There is an element of poetry to that. 

LINKS:

• Trump’s Case Has Broad Implications for American Democracy (NYT)

• The Indictment of Donald Trump Could Save Democracy (Newsweek)

• The New Trump Indictment and the Reckoning Ahead (New Yorker)

• Barr calls Trump indictment ‘tip of the iceberg’ in Jack Smith’s case (The Hill)

• What Makes Jack Smith’s New Trump Indictment So Smart (NYT)

• Rudy Giuliani Flips Out Over Trump's Jan. 6 Indictment (HuffPost)

• Judge Tanya Chutkan is a tough Trump critic, toughest Jan. 6 sentencer (WP)

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