Still waiting for Donald Trump's trials

Happy 2024! Regarding ex-President Trump's obvious crimes, we're still waiting for the "justice system" to do its thing.

The Washington Post has a trial calendar with a graphic.

Trials

The Wikipedia article for the civil investigation for business fraud is kept updated.

New York civil investigation of The Trump Organization — Update: There will be an April 22 hearing as to whether the bond he posted for the reduced amount is valid.

As is the defamation lawsuit:

E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump - Update: Trial was January 16–26. Trump must pay a total of $88 million. According to Brian Manookian (on X, January 26, 2024), Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, "kept saying 'no objection' as exhibits were entered into evidence. ... what she was doing over and over was waiving his ability to appeal over those evidentiary issues." Because she didn't "preserve a reversible error at the trial level," Trump has no basis for appeal. Moreover, "there is no such thing as an incompetent counsel defense in civil cases. That's for criminal matters."

The Wikipedia articles for the four criminal indictments are also kept updated. Now that it's 2024, you no longer have to specify the year when the trial will be held. The trials will be held this year. (And if they're not, well, that'd be "after the election," which would be the salient detail.)

• Federal prosecution (election obstruction case) — Update: An appeals court heard the immunity dispute on January 9, but has yet to rule, and therefore (update:) Trial is no longer scheduled for March 4. Of the delay caused by the appeals court, Neal Katyal (who was acting Solicitor General under Obama) said: “I think we’re now at the point, to use a different legal phrase, that ‘justice delayed is justice denied’...and it’s even more galling to me because this is an easy case. There is no responsible constitutional scholar who thinks Donald Trump is right, that there is absolute immunity.” Indeed, on Feb 6, the three judges ruled that Trump isn't immune from prosecution. Hours before that verdict came in, Robert Reich calculated it may be another six months until a verdict — really close to the election! — because even after the appeals court rules, Trump is "entitled to ask the full appeals court for rehearing, and then to seek Supreme Court review. Trump would ordinarily have 30 days to ask for review by the full appeals court, and 90 days after that to go to the high court. Then...[pretrial] proceedings will take two weeks...the trial itself will take two months." Amanda Marcotte for Salon on February 14 said the justices are unlikely to tell Trump he's immune from prosecution, but they might delay making a decision, which could deliver the same outcome, since if Trump wins the election he'll just take over the Justice Department and kill the case against him.
• Prosecution in New York — trial scheduled for March 25 (update: April 15). On March 31, former California Superior Court Judge LaDoris Hazzard Cordell said on CNN: “I don’t know what the mystique is or magic is about not putting Donald Trump in a jail cell so that he understands there are immediate consequences for not behaving as a normal adult in the courtroom. So, I don’t know, I think now may be the time.”
• Federal prosecution (classified documents case) — trial scheduled for May 20. However, in November 2023, the judge effectively delayed the trial by four months by saying she wouldn't make a key decision until a March 2024 hearing. Just Security has information about the case.
• Georgia election racketeering prosecution — trial not scheduled yet (prosecution has requested August 5)

Also please follow his 2024 presidential eligibility, as he might be kicked off some ballots in the primaries or the general. The Supreme Court will hear it on February 8. Learn about the background of this legal challenge and what to expect. Ann E. Marimow in the Washington Post reminds us that "in Bush v. Gore...the justices acted with extraordinary speed, issuing an opinion one day after the argument," and that the judges could also rule at any time after the argument in Trump's case.

Update: If you want a quick overview of Trump's efforts to overturn the election, culminating in the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2024, please see "Five horrifying truths about what occurred three years ago today: The 2024 election will be the last opportunity for America to hold Trump accountable for his attempted coup," Robert Reich, Substack, Jan 6, 2024.

"As former president Donald Trump prepares for somewhere between one and four criminal trials this year, the only thing certain about his court schedule is the profound uncertainty that hangs over all of it."
— The election calendar’s set. Trump’s trial timing? Deeply unclear. Four judges, multiple appeals courts and ‘a completely unpredictable defendant’ add up to a trial schedule shrouded in uncertainty. Devlin Barrett, Perry Stein and Josh Dawsey, Washington Post, January 12, 2024.

Yesterday (Jan 1), Fox News medical contributor Dr. Janette Nesheiwat said on-air: "He can be president from jail if he has to."

I think not though.

If you missed it (and if you're a paying Medium member), check out my brief satire Donte’s Referno: On the criminal referral.