AUG 3, 2023 (robertreich.substack.com)<\/p>\n\n\n\n THE KEY DATE TO KEEP IN MIND is January 20, 2025. Trump\u2019s main legal defense will be to stall the start of any trial until after that date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He\u2019ll argue that it is impossible for him to get a fair trial as the leading Republican candidate for president.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan rejects Trump\u2019s motion to delay, his lawyers will appeal her decision to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. If the D.C. Court of Appeals rejects the motion, he\u2019ll appeal to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the makeup of the current Supreme Court, a majority of the justices are likely to go along with Trump\u2019s argument and stay the commencement of the case until the next president is sworn in. (They will not recuse themselves.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the trial nonetheless commences before January 20, 2025, Trump will try to slow it down with procedural motions, which, if denied by Judge Chutkan, will then be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The point of both strategies will be to enable Trump to center his 2024 campaign on his alleged persecution by the \u201cDeep State.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As he wrote to his supporters on Tuesday night, \u201cIf these illegal persecutions succeed, if they\u2019re allowed to set fire to the law, then it will not stop with me. Their grip will close even tighter around YOU. It\u2019s not just my freedom on the line, but yours as well \u2014 and I will NEVER let them take it from you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n If he wins the election, he\u2019ll be able to end the case with either a pliable new attorney general or a self-pardon. (In the unlikely event that one of his rivals for the GOP nomination is elected, they \u2014 including Ron DeSantis \u2014 have already promised to pardon him.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n If Trump loses the election, he\u2019ll have put Joe Biden under enormous pressure to pardon him, in order to \u201cheal\u201d the nation. Anyone remember Gerald Ford?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, this strategy strikes me as the most likely one Trump will follow. I don\u2019t believe it will succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What do you think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The most likely strategy, but it will not succeed ROBERT REICH AUG 3, 2023 (robertreich.substack.com) THE KEY DATE TO KEEP IN MIND is January 20, 2025. Trump\u2019s main legal defense will be to stall the start of any trial until after that date. He\u2019ll argue that it is impossible for… Continue reading ![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/substackcdn.com\/image\/fetch\/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep\/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F83d7b8dd-5ed4-4f3a-b167-8d0a5a860df4_1140x1425.webp\")
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