THE TRUMP INDICTMENT REALITY TV SHOW

A new CNN poll out this morning shows 60 percent of Americans, including 60 percent of independent voters, say they approve of the Trump indictment. While views on the indictment are split along party lines, the poll finds that majorities across major demographic divides all approve of the decision to indict the former president. That includes gender (62% of women, 58% of men), racial and ethnic groups (82% of Black adults, 71% of Hispanic adults, 51% of White adults), generational lines (69% under age 35; 62% age 35-49; 53% age 50-64; 54% 65 or older) and educational levels (68% with college degrees, 56% with some college or less).

A scant 10% overall see Trump as blameless, but Americans are divided about whether his actions were illegal or merely unethical. 37% say he acted illegally, 33% unethically but not illegally, and 20% say they aren’t sure. Only 8% of political independents say he did nothing wrong, and the rest are mostly on board with the indictment even if they aren’t convinced Trump did something illegal.

Even among those who disapprove of the indictment, the perception that Trump’s actions were questionable is fairly widespread. 52% say Trump did something wrong regarding payments to Daniels. 49% say he acted unethically, and only 3% illegallly, with the remainder split between 23% that he did nothing wrong and 24% not being sure. Among those who approve the decision to indict, 1% say his actions were not wrong at all, 59% call them illegal and 23% unethical.

31% say the decision strengthens US democracy and an identical 31% share say it weakens democracy. 23% say it has no effect on democracy and 15% are unsure.

The dilemma for Republican leaders and other potential candidates is that Trump’s mounting legal troubles may simultaneously strengthen him as a candidate for the GOP primary and weaken him as a general-election nominee.

Last night, news broke that DOJ and FBI investigators have fresh evidence pointing to possible obstruction by Trump regarding top-secret documents found at Mar-a-Lago. The bombshell is the suggestion Trump himself may have gone through the documents after a federal grand jury in DC issued a subpoena for their return. This comes from emails and text messages from a former Trump aide who saw te documents go to his office.

These new details highlight the degree to which special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into the potential mishandling of hundreds of classified national security papers at Trump’s private club has come to focus on the obstruction elements; whether he took documents or directed actions to impede government efforts to collect all the sensitive records. Investigators now suspect, based on witness statements, security camera footage, and other documentary evidence, that boxes including classified material were moved from a Mar-a-Lago storage area after the subpoena was served, and that Trump personally examined at least some of those boxes.

Prosecutors have evidence Trump ignored requests from multiple advisers to return the documents and that he asked advisers and lawyers to release false statements claiming he had returned all documents, and that he grew angry after being subpoenaed for them.

Investigators also have evidence Trump sought advice from other lawyers and advisers on how he could keep documents after being told he could not, with evidence multiple advisers warned Trump that trying to keep the documents could be legally perilous.

If this news is accurate, Jack Smith has an atomic cannon aimed at the entrance to Mar A Lado. This is the case that will force everyone to confront the truth of what Trump did.

This afternoon, while all channels were broadcasting the “slow speed pursuit,” er, I mean Trump’s trip from La Guardia to Trump Tower, Michael Steel made the very important observation that the way Trump has been treated in this indictment, the way the news was broken, the way he was allowed to have the weekend to organize things before turning himself in and being arraigned, the way the media is hanging on his every move, demonstrates that there are indeed “two systems of justice” in the country and that we are still obsessed with the culture of celebrity. I agree with him (it’s amazing how much sense ex-Chairman/ex-Maryland Lt. Governor Steel makes nowadays about so much of current events).

It makes sense for the legacy media - they’ve been hemorrhaging audience share since January 19, 2021. But we are all in The Donald Trump Indictment Reality TV Show.

You don’t think he doesn’t love it that today and all the past week since the indictment was announced he is back as Topic #1 in America?

Once again, we are all dancing to his tune. He’s not just the DJ at the Mar A Lado bat mitzvahs now. He’s the DJ choosing the music for the entire country. And as Steel pointed out, that’s the way it’s going to be for the next 18 months.

Just covering all this the way they covered the OJ Trial 30 years ago is going to fuck things up now just as they were fucked up by the coverage back then.

Go re-read those numbers in the CNN poll. On the important question of whether following the Rule of Law strengthens democracy, 31% say the decision strengthens US democracy and an identical share say it weakens democracy. We are on a knife edge about the essential question facing us.

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