Here we go: Jack Smith is about to finish off Donald Trump
Donald Trump’s defense attorneys in his various criminal scandals have long been fond of employing stunts for an audience of one. Trump is so plainly guilty in all three of his criminal probes, even the best attorneys could ever get Trump off the hook. And Trump’s attorneys are, shall we say, not the best.
For that matter, Trump is an unmanageable client who doesn’t appear to follow the legal advice his attorneys do to give him, and instead increasingly prefers to rely on the kinds of simplistic magic wand stunts that could never possibly help him. So that’s what his attorneys keep giving him. Another day, another pointless legal stunt that doesn’t help Trump in any way. It’s frankly been getting boring.
But the latest such stunt from Trump and his legal team is enough to make you sit up and pay attention. Last night Trump’s lawyers sent a public letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking for an emergency meeting. Garland’s response was predictably “no.” But the letter gives away that Trump’s attorneys strongly believe (or have been outright informed by Jack Smith) that Trump will be indicted imminently in the classified documents probe. And while “imminent” has a different meaning in the legal world, suffice it to say that Trump’s attorneys would only send this letter if they expect this indictment to happen within days.
And so here we are, on the eve of Donald Trump’s federal criminal indictment in his classified documents scandal. This is really happening. Jack Smith was always going to indict Trump, and Garland was never going to get in the way of it. These were always givens. But now that it’s actually happening, it’s still remarkable no matter how easily predictable it’s been.
It’s worth keeping in mind that, based on the way this is all being reported by the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere, it appears Trump’s attorneys are only expecting an “any moment now” indictment in the classified documents probe. Jack Smith is also clearly seeking to indict Trump for January 6th, for wire fraud, and for his international business entanglements. Those indictments may take a bit longer to come. But the the DOJ’s first charges against Trump will start the clock for his federal criminal trial, and it’ll be nice to see that date made official, so everyone can see that it’s going to happen well ahead of the 2024 election.
