Trump indicted? It will be his triumph – or his downfall

Last weekend, Donald Trump started his election campaign in earnest. Ironically, the ex-president held his first meeting in Waco, Texas, the place where 82 cult members died in a shootout with the FBI in 1993. With all the trimmings: old rocker Ted Nugent warmed up the MAGA backpack, pillow manufacturer Mike Lindell was allowed to tell his lie again about alleged election fraud, until the Maestro, who had traveled in his private jet, took the stage himself and – accompanied by a prisoner chorus of convicted stormers of the Capitol – first read the oath of allegiance to the Constitution before launching into a diatribe about an alleged politicization of the judiciary.

However, pomp and pseudo-patriotism cannot hide the fact that Trump is in serious legal trouble. He faces at least three charges: Manhattan coroner Alvin Bragg wants to drag him before the Qadi over hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels. In the state of Georgia, he could soon face an election fraud charge – the “find me 11,780 votes” story – and Special Counsel Jack Smith appears to be finalizing his investigation into classified documents and Trump’s role in storming the Capitol .

The chance that Donald Trump will soon enjoy a so-called “perp walk” is therefore high. But what is that actually?

The term “perp walk” can be roughly paraphrased as “public display”. In concrete terms, this concerns the procedure that is followed when a suspect is brought before the court for the first time. This is done in handcuffs. The ‘mug shots’, the police photos of the suspect, were made for this purpose and his fingerprints were taken. Only then does the judge read out the individual charges to which he can plead guilty or not guilty.

The perpetrator’s course is more than a formalistic procedure, it is a deliberate humiliation of the accused. The question arises: how will Trump deal with a perp walk?

Easy, say the people around him. Trump is in a good mood and he is very much looking forward to the Perp Walk. “This is the new normal for us,” said his spokesman Steven Cheung. “The president is battle-hardened now. We can handle anything that gets in our way.”

In fact, a gang of the perpetrator somehow plays into Trump’s hands. He can fully portray himself again in his favorite role, the victim role. The MAGA package has been preparing Trump for this event for weeks. Yes, he had even announced his arrest for last Tuesday, one of countless fake news from his mouth.

Trump also repeatedly emphasizes that he is putting his head on the block on behalf of the little forgotten man. At the same time, he declares that he is entering his last stand. “You know it. I know it. You know it. Everyone knows it,” he cheers his fans. “Either they win or we win. If they win, we won’t have a nation.”

Not everyone buys Trump’s heroic attitude of sacrifice, however. That’s whistling in the woods, they say, but in reality Trump is downright panicked about the Perp Walk. He saw how things were going with his chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, and it shocked him deeply.

The fact that, even by his standards, Trump has been running amok on social media in recent days speaks in favor of this statement. He insulted Alvin Bragg as an “animal” and “degenerate psychopath”. At the same time, he posted a photo of him threatening the black coroner with a baseball bat. He promised the country “possible death and devastation” if he was actually charged. This doesn’t really look sovereign.

The hush money affair should be the start of the possible charges. Trump paid porn star Stormy Daniels, real name Stephanie Clifford, $130,000 through his then attorney Michael Cohen. Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison and has already served his sentence. He is now waging a vendetta against Trump.

Many consider Trump to be the first to accuse Stormy Daniels as a mistake. This is the weakest of all cases, they argue. The procedure at federal level has indeed been halted, but for more than dubious reasons. The trial Trump now faces is a state trial in New York State.

The prosecutor breaks new legal grounds

The process is also on shaky ground, say the skeptics. Under national law, it is initially just a crime. Making this crime a criminal offense would require Alvin Bragg to perform an unprecedented and very delicate legal maneuver.

The lawsuit was also politically ill-advised, the critics continued. The MAGA crowd has no issues with Trump’s affair with the porn star. On the contrary, she not only forgives him, she downright loves it and would cheer “when Trump owns the libs,” which can be somewhat vulgarly translated as: when Trump kicks the left in the balls.

The process also forces Republicans to unconditionally support the ex-president, which they already do. Most key figures in the Grand Old Party have all now dutifully denounced the allegations as politically motivated witch hunts against Trump.

Even his closest primary election rival, Ron DeSantis, has now done so, albeit with well-placed malice. Unfortunately, according to the governor of Florida, he has no experience hiding money from porn stars. Therefore, he could not comment on the contents.

There is also a counter-thesis to the potential political ramifications, which is: anyone who wants to become president of the United States absolutely must win the favor of women in the suburbs. However, these so-called soccer moms will be reminded of Trump’s vulgar behavior through the process and will therefore turn away from him in disgust.

Moreover, the upcoming Trump trial would not only consume a lot of money, but also a lot of time, the skeptics continue to argue. The question is whether the ex-president will find enough time for his meetings. And even then, the trials would give the Democrats a very strong argument, which is this: Who wants a president who has to handle his criminal case in addition to his demanding duties in an already dangerous world?