Thunderstorms, some heavy during the morning hours, then skies turning partly cloudy during the afternoon. High around 85F. Winds SSE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..
Tonight
A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph.
So now comes the big one: Donald Trump has been indicted for trying to throw out the result of an election so as to stay in power.
There’s no doubt he did that; the evidence is already out there and was mostly visible on Jan. 6th, 2021. The question is whether that constitutes a crime.
The beauty of the judicial system is that we’re going to find out. It’s not like politics, or public relations, or business, or a Presidential debate, or even like the investigative work of a Congressional committee. The only thing close is independent professional journalism, but we in the news media don’t have subpoena power and we can’t make people swear an oath.
In court, prosecutors will present evidence, defense lawyers will make counter-arguments or introduce other evidence, and a judge will keep the proceedings on the rails. A jury will weigh all this and render a verdict. There could be appeals, too; the point is that there are clearly-defined rules, and longstanding practices.
Trump has, for as long as he’s been in the public eye, said anything so as to get what he wants. Truth, lie – doesn’t matter. The whole point is to advance his interests.
In court, that approach won’t work. Only the truth will work. Lying in court is itself a crime.
Keep in mind that Trump will still do whatever he wants outside of court; presumably he will attack the prosecutor and the judge, and will cast doubt on the legitimacy of the proceedings. Some people will bite his lure, and he might win the Republican presidential nomination. Maybe he’ll even get elected President again. It’s hard to imagine, but everything with Trump has been unprecedented. All of this has been hard to imagine, as if we’re living in a fevered nightmare of Thomas Jefferson, the toughest test of the republic he designed.
The system withstood an attempt to overthrow it, although just barely, thanks in the end to Vice President Mike Pence’s loyalty to it. And to the weight of history behind it, the weight that Pence surely felt.
But was that attempt a crime? Was it an attempted coup, orchestrated by a would-be despot? Or was it just bare-knuckled politics, fair game, just another politician lying to try to win?
Again, what’s what we’re going to find out. Ultimately it is the only way we ever will.