Why Donald Trump Is Now (Probably) Indicted An ominous operation

A common claim among American political forecasters is that Trump announced his candidacy so early to avoid criminal charges. If this is the case, then this calculation should not add up. As the New York Times reports, the ex-president just received a subpoena to testify before a grand jury. This lay panel clarifies whether charges can be brought.

Such a summons is considered a bad omen. “[It]means in the vast majority of cases that an indictment is imminent,” according to the New York Times. “It would be highly unusual for coroner Alvin L. Bragg to notify a potential defendant without subsequently intending to charge him.”

The charges in question relate to the hush money Trump allegedly paid to Stormy Daniels. He wanted to prevent his affair with the porn star from becoming known. The ex-president continues to deny the affair, but Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, has been convicted and has already served his three-year prison sentence.

Meanwhile, Cohen has become a bitter enemy of the ex-president and says he has testified against him 20 times before law enforcement in recent months. The verdict against Cohen also made it clear at the time that the lawyer had acted on Trump’s behalf. Checks signed by him were even presented as proof that ex-President Cohen had repaid the $130,000 advanced. That could be Trump’s downfall, as he likely violated applicable election laws and could be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

Why was Trump not held accountable along with his lawyer? Simply because under current Justice Department guidelines, he could not be indicted as a sitting president. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) – actually the toughest in the US – later completely dropped the case against Trump under questionable circumstances.

It is a national body that reports to the Ministry of Justice. However, the current investigation is being conducted by the Manhattan Coroner. Why Alvin Bragg decided to take this step is also unclear. He had previously dropped a case of his predecessor Cyrus Vance, angering high-profile coroners who resigned under protest. However, Bragg wants to play it safe. He apparently assumes that the hush money crime has a better chance of success.

Bragg may also have new assets up its sleeve. Allen Weisselberg, long-time Chief Financial Officer of the Trump Group, is currently serving a sentence at New York’s infamous Rikers Island Prison. It is therefore conceivable that he is now prepared to testify against his ex-boss. Longtime Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway has also been seen entering the bureau’s building.

If Bragg were to indict the ex-president, not only would he make history—no US ex-president has ever faced trial—he would likely unleash a wave of indictments. Coroner Fani Willis is investigating in Georgia for inciting voter fraud against Trump.

She announced weeks ago that a decision on a possible charge was “imminent”. A special grand jury has also found in a partially published report that a number of people – possibly including Trump – are facing charges.

Cost this spring?

Finally, Attorney General Merrick Garland has assigned a special representative to investigate Trump’s role before and during the storming of the Capitol and the issue of top-secret documents found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

All charges are likely to be filed this spring, as law enforcement agencies must give Trump at least nine months to prepare for trial. After this period, the hot phase of the 2024 election campaign will begin. In order to prevent the politicization of the judiciary, the criminal justice authorities will traditionally exercise restraint.

Legally, Trump’s calculation may have failed. Politically, however, he could be the winner. He has vowed that he would still run if charges were brought against him. Then he can resume his favorite role, that of the victim who fights against the establishment and for the little man.

In his speech last Saturday at the Conservative CPAC conference, he pointed in that direction. “I am your warrior. I am your judge,’ he exclaimed. “And to all who have been wronged, I am the vengeance.”

Statements like this fit very well with his base. In the most recent polls, Trump is once again well ahead of Ron DeSantis, his most dangerous opponent in his own party. The Florida governor is the crown prince-elect of media mogul Rupert Murdoch. He wants to get rid of Trump, so DeSantis can be seen continuously on Fox News, while the ex-president hardly gets any airtime.

That could soon change as Murdoch and Trump have a relationship reminiscent of the worst scenes of a marriage. The two deeply hate each other but cannot leave each other as they are interdependent. Murdoch needs the ratings and Trump needs a propaganda mouthpiece. Fox News is far more influential than all other right-wing media outlets combined.

Documents unearthed in the course of a libel lawsuit against the broadcaster show just how shattered the relationship between Trump and Fox News is. Dominion, a maker of voting machines, has sued Fox News over allegations that the machines were rigged in favor of Joe Biden. While bizarre conspiracy theories circulate for this claim, there is no evidence.

The court has now released hundreds of pages of the Dominion indictment. Even though many sections have been blacked out, Fox News’ hypocrisy is obvious. Internal emails show that Murdoch was convinced that Trump was “increasingly losing his mind” after losing his election. “He apparently hardly sleeps anymore and is running around like crazy,” the media mogul wrote in a message to a friend. “I don’t know if Melania can stop him, but the kids aren’t helping.”

Tucker Carlson plays an extremely bleak and hypocritical role in this slander. The new star anchor of Fox News makes no secret of his contempt for the ex-president in internal emails. In fact, “I hate him terribly,” he wrote to his producer. At the same time, after the election defeat, Carlson wrote: “We are almost able to ignore Trump. I can hardly wait for it.”

Trump, for his part, is not making a murder hole of his heart either. He recently described the leaders of Rupert Murdoch and Fox News as a “group of MAGA-hating globalists and RINOS (Republicans in name only) who bet and hope that America will be destroyed.”

Any lawsuit would likely restore the broken marriage. There are already the first signs of that. Tucker Carlson this week made the absurd attempt to use Capitol Police video to prove that the January 6, 2021 rioters were innocent tourists. In doing so, he has again fully supported Trump. The reward arrived on the spot. The ex-president wrote in all caps, “GREAT WORK BY TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT.”