SPEAK UP: Will justice come for Trump, after all?
Is the law finally closing in? Or will the former guy wiggle out yet again?
With jury selection behind us, Donald Trump’s criminal trial (for his role in concealing hush-money payments to Stormy Daniels in order to mislead voters in the 2016 election) finally got underway this week in Manhattan criminal court. The defendant’s evident fatigue aside, the first criminal trial of a former U.S. president has been anything but a snooze, and the proceedings aren’t looking good so far for Trump or his defense team.
That said, Trump has always had a knack for squirming out of legal trouble. Today the Supreme Court will take on the question of Trump’s claim of “absolute immunity” from criminal prosecution for actions he took while in office. It won’t affect the New York case (the actions Trump is accused of there took place before he got into office) but could potentially derail the bigger election interference case (the one led by special prosecutor Jack Smith) and any reckoning on his role in the January 6 uprising.
We encourage you to look back at Sherrilyn Ifill’s thoughts on what justice for Trump would mean, and on our reflections on what the way we dole out justice says about America.
But over to you. For all of you who’ve been following the proceedings, or just the whole damn era, we’d love to know what you’re thinking. Will Trump finally face justice? What would it mean for America to see a former president convicted in criminal court?
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I don't think it's useful to speculate. And we especially need to be careful not to allow what we *want* to happen to bias our assessment of what might happen. We need to prepare for a range of possible outcomes, whether some of those outcomes are just or not.
I think Mr. Trump's time is up. He will be convicted in New York and the constant drum beat of bad legal news and the distraction of attending trials and hearings weakens him as a candidate. He will not win election, but he may lead another insurrection.