Ex-president in Arizona warns appeal courts to ‘step up and straighten things out’ and insists he committed no crimes
In his first campaign rally after being convicted of 34 felonies, former president Donald Trump recalled how he just went through a “rigged” trial with a “highly conflicted” judge despite there being “no crime”.
The court cases Trump faces have become a mainstay of his campaigning throughout the last year, where he frequently tells his followers that the charges are a form of election interference and designed to tamp down the Maga movement.
“Those appellate courts have to step up and straighten things out, or we’re not going to have a country any longer,” he said.
Trump spoke at a Turning Point Action event in sweltering Phoenix, at Dream City church, a megachurch where he and Turning Point have held rallies in the past. The extreme heat led to some waiting outside for the venue to open to need medical attention for heatstroke.
I think the best way to go is probation, enforced with some sort of suspended sentence. If he violates the terms of his probation, the suspended sentence kicks in and he goes straight to Rikers for a few months. It reinforces the point that the crimes may not warrant jail time, but his attitude definitely does. And leaves the whole thing up to his own actions.
And the probation terms will probably not be that onerous. Most probation officers simply make sure their charges are still gainfully employed, and are obeying laws. But Trump is a political candidate and NFT salesman, so we all know he has money coming in. Maybe they ask about his travel plans, which his team can easily give. Maybe they ask him about his medications and make him pee in a cup. Maybe they make him do some community service, which he will spin into campaign stops.
The probation process for Trump will be purely performative, but it is an important performance. It will be all about whether he recognizes that the NYC criminal justice system now has some oversight over him. If he does not, and does not cooperate with his probation officer (who, odds are, has heritage from one of those countries he doesn’t like), he will end up in Rikers, purely due to his ability to not listen to people he doesn’t like.
Campaign stops or not, I think giving him 1000 hours of community service would still be an excellent choice. Especially if it has to be local. He broke NY law, so he should have to serve NY citizens.
I think I would classify Donald as “Gainfully Unemployed”
There have been several Presidential also-rans who made a side career out of their losing campaigns. You need to have some level of accomplishment beforehand, of course, so people recognize your name. (Or, maybe you are just born with a famous one.) Then, you write at least one book. You announce an “exploratory committee”, to test how well you might do in a campaign, which can raise money and fund your travel. Eventually, you formally declare your candidacy, and raise more money.
All your travel is paid for by the campaign, you have paid staff coordinating it all so all you have to do is show up. You eat good meals at fund-raisers where people give you even more money, And - this is the most important part - the campaign buys your books at list price to give away to donors, steering campaign money right into your pocket. By the time you graciously bow out of the campaign, you’ve grifted enough to last until the next campaign starts.