It’s a mad scramble at Team Trump to determine what evidence (and witnesses) Jack Smith has prepared for trial. But why the scramble? Jack Smith knows what Trump did. Since Trump also knows, there is no mystery here. If Trump wants his team of lawyers to know what Jack Smith might present at trial, he should tell them.
Smith’s evidence is not a secret — not for Trump. He was there. He did it. He knows the evidence that exists and who could potentially testify against him. Why not share that with his lawyers so they know how best to defend him?
Ah, right. The only way for Trump to provide his lawyers with everything they need to know is if Trump is willing to admit the truth — and Trump’s entire defense strategy is to lie. But Trump isn’t just lying to his lawyers — he is also lying to the public and to himself.
So while the people testifying against Trump will probably do exactly what they promised to do — tell the truth — Trump is incapable of doing the same. His delusions feed his ego. He needs them. He needs them like plants need water.
Trump can’t tell the truth to his lawyers because then he’d have to admit he’s a liar and a cheat and is immoral and unqualified for the office of president. Therefore, he can’t afford to be honest, even with his lawyers.
We know what Trump did too, and we don’t need a jury to tell us
We know what Trump did as well because we watched him do it. Granted, we are supposed to say he’s innocent until proven guilty — and while it’s true that Trump cannot be convicted until a jury finds him guilty — we all watched and heard him commit crimes.
Look at it this way. If you were witness to a murder. Would you say the murderer did not commit the crime until a jury said he did? No, of course not. Granted, you wouldn’t want a person convicted without a trial, but you wouldn’t be so foolish as to doubt what you saw with your own eyes, would you?
Ah, but if you’re a Trump supporter, you would. Do you remember when Trump said, “Whatever you think you see, whatever you think you hear, it’s not true”? Apparently, for Trump’s plan to work, we all must pretend what we see and hear isn’t true.
But here’s the thing: evidence, by definition, is factual. Evidence is what constitutes proof. While it’s true that fingerprints may be planted, the claim Trump has made about boxes in Mar-a-Lago being planted is absurd. There is video footage of those boxes being moved around before the search warrant was executed. Does Trump expect us to believe the FBI snuck into his Mar-a-Lago resort and, without anyone knowing, left dozens of boxes of classified materials?
Trump’s only strategy is to pretend he’s someone he’s not
The game Trump has played from the beginning is to pretend he’s someone he’s not while also pretending the people at the DOJ are not who we know them to be.
Trump is not a successful businessman. He’s declared bankruptcy multiple times despite being handed over $400 million by his father. He can’t even fire people himself — he makes other people do it — which makes his famous “You’re fired!” line from “The Apprentice” all the more ridiculous. It’s the perfect cover for a coward who is a failure in business and in life. He uses media to make himself look tough, successful, and strong when in reality, he’s a weak man with a fragile ego whose entire persona is a fabrication designed to manipulate the rest of us.
Deception is the only escape plan Trump has. If he can get enough people to believe he’s innocent of the crimes we all watched and heard him commit, he thinks he’s got a chance of being re-elected. But it won’t work. Even if Republicans are willing to pretend the truth isn’t true, the jury will not.
As for the DOJ, all the credible reporting so far indicates that the FBI dragged its feet when asked to move forward on the cases against Trump. If anything, the FBI has too many Trump loyalists — and it’s thanks to them that it’s taken so long for all of this to unfold. But if you listen to Trump (which I do not recommend), the FBI was out to get him.
Juries are not as easily misled as Trump Republicans
Jack Smith and the jury hearing the case against Donald Trump will not be fooled by rhetoric — they will have evidence and witnesses who will testify to the truth. It will not be possible, even for a Trump-supporting juror, to evade the truth when it’s presented in a courtroom. Conversely, Trump will continue to lie, and in the end, the jury will see through whatever nonsense Trump’s lawyers present in his defense.
Trump’s lawyers will likely try to say he took bad advice, which caused him to do stupid (and criminal) things like conspiring to have fake electors pretend they were duly elected and calling the Georgia secretary of state to tell him to “find” more votes for Trump. But bad advice isn’t an excuse for criminal behavior, so that’s not likely to help him. In fact, at this point, nothing will.
For the first time in the life of the disgraced, twice-impeached ex-president, Trump is about to be held accountable. And for the first time ever, he will also be unable to pay someone to take the fall for him. He must be absolutely terrified.
Chris Christie said that Trump once told him, “I could never go to jail.”
Oops!