Donald Trump is in need of three things: jail time, dance lessons, and a proof-reader.
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In a characteristically unhinged Truth Social rant, Trump raged against “deranged” Special Counsel Jack Smith’s report on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. In the report, Smith wrote that he would fully support the decision to level criminal charges against Trump, saying that the president-elect made “criminal efforts” in order to “defeat a federal government function foundational to the United States’ democratic process.”
Unsurprisingly, Trump was not happy with the news. The president-elect rambled on that the “lamebrain” Smith was working for his “boss Crooked Joe Biden” in order to write a report “based on information that the Unselect Committee of Political Hacks and Thugs ILLEGALLY DESTROYED AND DELETED, because it showed how totally innocent [he] was.” Trump then claimed that somehow, Nancy Pelosi and “others” were to blame for… something? Like many of Trump’s Truth Social posts, the meaning is opaque.
Trump then repeated the lie that he “won in a landslide,” and signed off with an all caps declaration “THE VOTERS HAVE SPOKEN!!!” The voters did speak, but not nearly as loudly as Trump claims. Though the president-elect has frequently claimed he won a “historic” and a “landslide” victory in the 2024 election, the polls show otherwise.
Though Trump’s victory may have been historically small, it’s the only thing keeping him out of jail. According to the Special Counsel’s report, Trump’s 2024 election win saved him from a prison sentence – he would have been convicted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump’s election win has saved him from serving time for other convictions as well. Though Trump was found guilty on 34 counts in his hush money case, he was given a rare and lenient sentence of “unconditional discharge.” Though he will remain a convicted felon, he will serve no jail time nor be sentenced to probation. It’s a conviction in name only, one that he is likely to appeal.
Trump had been indicted for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election before. In 2023, charges were filed against Trump, but the president-elect was able to successfully appeal the case all the way up to the conservative Supreme Court. The Court decided in Trump’s favor, issuing a ruling that gives presidents an unprecedented level of immunity when it comes to “official acts” performed in office. According to Smith’s report, the Supreme Court’s decision left a series of thorny legal questions unanswered, namely how an effort to overturn an election could be considered an “official act” of a president in the first place. Though Smith sought to save the indictment, it was thrown out by the Justice Department due to its longstanding precedent against prosecuting sitting presidents.
“The department’s view that the Constitution prohibits the continued indictment and prosecution of a president is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government’s proof or the merits of the prosecution, which the office stands fully behind,” Smith wrote in the report. “Indeed, but for Mr. Trump’s election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial.” Smith’s report makes it painfully clear: if Trump wasn’t soon to be president, he’d be behind bars.
While Trump may rage at Smith’s report, he should consider himself extremely lucky. He avoided jail by a razor thin margin of the popular vote. The voters have indeed spoken, nearly half the country spoke out against him, but it just wasn’t enough.
This post was originally published on here
