The first glimpse of what a televised Trump trial in Fulton County, Georgia would look like came on Wednesday and it was indeed a fascinating preview. I’d been skeptical that a camera in the courtroom would really matter, but watching the proceedings yesterday changed my mind.
There is an undeniable gravity to the formalities of a criminal case. The specifics may be too granular to be of general interest but what’s at stake — potential jail time for the defendant — is undeniable.
Trump has what is probably the best defense team his money can buy, and the state RICO case against him is complex and labyrinthian. But the details of the charges boil down to one fact — he and his minions allegedly tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
The state’s case is that Trump et.al. went to illegal ends as outlined in the indictment. If convicted, there is a mandatory minimum jail time of five years.
This case is going to be playing out over many months to come and nobody knows whether a conviction will be obtained. But if I were one of the 19 defendants, I wouldn’t be confidant at this point of my chances for an acquittal.
Therefore, it’s possible some of them will begin to consider the option to flip and turn against Trump. In a related news story, that is already happening in the federal classified documents case.
HEADLINES:
Trump suffers big loss in E. Jean Carroll defamation case, judge says he’s liable (CNBC)
Judge 'very skeptical' of DA's push to try Trump, 18 co-defendants together in Georgia election case (ABC)
Special counsel Jack Smith said Tuesday that former President Donald Trump’s ongoing attacks against prosecutors and judges threatened to influence potential jurors in his 2020 election interference case. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has previously warned Trump to "take special care in your public statements about this case." [HuffPost]
Harris says Trump can’t be spared accountability for Jan. 6 (AP)
Mar-a-Lago IT worker struck cooperation agreement with special counsel, his former lawyer says (CNN)
Is there another shoe to drop in the story of Clarence Thomas and his billionaire pal? (The Hill)
FBI searches for growing number of Jan. 6 fugitives (CBS)
McConnell’s health becomes bigger problem for GOP (The Hill)
Inside Fortress China (Economist)
Tropical Storm Lee path: Meteorologists project where it's heading and when it will become a hurricane (CBS)
Afghanistan women suffer 2 years after Taliban takeover (WP)
UN forced to cut food assistance from 10 million Afghans (CNN)
To Slow The Ukrainian Counteroffensive, the Russian Army Quadrupled The Size Of Its Minefields (Forbes)
Earth just had its hottest summer on record, U.N. says, warning "climate breakdown has begun" (CBS)
Senate meeting with top AI leaders will be ‘closed-door,’ no press or public allowed (VentureBeat)
How to use ChatGPT to make charts and tables (ZDNet)
What OpenAI Really Wants (Wired)
We know remarkably little about how AI language models work (TR)
AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman: AI needs a "containment" plan (Axios)
AI will scramble geopolitical power if left unchecked, one executive says (Politico)
Remorseful Poster Deletes Comment After Accidentally Telling Wrong Stranger To Kill Self (The Onion)
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