The indictments pile up

Trump gets a target letter.

The fact that Trump had received yet another target letter from Jack Smith was a relatively close hold in his world. He went public after a media inquiry asking if he had received one, according to a person briefed on the matter.

We don’t know what charges Smith is considering bringing against Trump, but commentary from many lawyers — ranging from the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 riot to outsiders writing “model prosecution memos” — have focused in particular on the possibility of the attempted corrupt obstruction of an official proceeding, under Section 1512(c) of Title 18, and conspiracy to defraud the government under Section 371 of Title 18.

There have been at least two grand juries investigating Trump’s efforts to remain in power after he lost the 2020 election. One is related to Trump’s fundraising off his false claims of widespread fraud and his claim he needed money to fight it. The other relates to the so-called “fake” electors that his allies sought to have votes tallied for Trump in the electoral college count.

You know – little stuff. Details.

To state the obvious plainly, Trump is facing significant jail time. He has already been indicted twice and is now facing two more, one federal and one in Georgia, also in relation to his efforts to remain in power. When he was indicted in the documents investigation, his advisers were blunt that in their view, he needs to win the election as a defense against possible jail time. That only increases with an indictment related to Jan. 6 at the federal level.

That’s frankly horrifying. Winning an election should not be a fucking get out of jail free card! Quite the reverse. His rampant prolific criminality should disqualify him from so much as running.

The hearing today in Florida could help flesh out more details about when Mr. Trump’s trial on charges of violating the Espionage Act will take place. The government has requested a date in December. Mr. Trump’s lawyers have asked for an indefinite postponement.

This is all so shaming.

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