This has been mentioned in other threads, but deserves its own discussion.
“Protest, take our nation back!”
Trump is using the same thinly veiled language that he used leading up to January 6th. He is also holding a rally in Waco on Saturday. Seems like the start of some pretty dark times.
What a messed up time we live in when an imminent arrest warrant is an excuse for a campaign rally.,
I do, however, have to admit that the thought that he could refuse to travel to New York State to surrender, putting the Desantis administration in the awkward position of having to decide whether to honor the arrest warrant and extradite. That would add a disturbing, if fascinating, spin on the race for the GOP nomination for '24.
(However, one of Trump’s attorneys has said that he would surrender.)
In a 1987 case, Puerto Rico v. Branstad,[3] the court overruled Dennison, and held that the governor of the asylum state has no discretion in performing his or her duty to extradite, whether that duty arises under the Extradition Clause of the Constitution or under the Extradition Act (18 U.S.C. § 3182), and that a federal court may enforce the governor’s duty to return the fugitive to the demanding state.[4] There are only four grounds upon which the governor of the asylum state may deny another state’s request for extradition:[5]
- the extradition documents facially are not in order;
- the person has not been charged with a crime in the demanding state;
- the person is not the person named in the extradition documents; or
- the person is not a fugitive.
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I’d be a bit surprised if we actually jail him for something so petty.
And I’d be a bit surprised if there are any remarkable protests over it either.
In any case, the arrest and Stormy Daniels trial, is a perfect set-up for Trump as the president of garbage reality TV. Being accused of paying off prostitutes is far more his style than treason.
I assume that extradition of “normal” suspected criminals gets decided well below the office of Governor. Can’t DeSantis just refuse to get involved and let the chips fall where they may? I assume Trump will meet the criteria for extradition, then he can appeal if he wants and a judge will (hopefully) honor the extradition but either way DeSantis can just sit back and say “I wasn’t involved; the proper process was followed.”
If I was a DeSantis advisor (God forbid) that’s probably what I’d tell him to do.
We have the potential for some truly terrible attempts to compare the situation to the fugitive slave acts, so that should be fun.
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Lord help us all.
I think it’s been pretty well established that Desantis doesn’t really care much about precedent or the Constitution when it comes to seeking brownie points from potential supporters.
He could, but there will be some in the Trump cult that will assert that Desantis should have blocked execution of the warrant / extradition because it is “obviously” just a political attack from “rabid libs”, potentially ending any willingness they might have for voting for Desantis in 24.
Of course, if Desantis were to interfere with execution of the warrant, he would run the risk of alienating non-rabid Republicans and independents…which would also damage his prospects for 24.
It’s a potentially “damned if I do, damned if I don’t” situation for Desantis.
Then he wouldn’t be as much of a martyr. He wants to play the victim card.
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I agree with all of that, but IMO the least politically damaging thing he can do is to actually do what any Governor of any political party in any state should do for any extradition of any person… which is to simply let the process happen without getting involved.
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That also gives him cover to talk out of both sides of his mouth. “I’m not convinced that Trump deserves to be put in jail” but also “it would be improper for a Governor to get involved” and even “it’s for the people of New York to decide if he’s guilty” or whatever other political double-speak his handlers want to come up with.
I agree for this particular charge. If he does eventually get charged for some of the other crimes such as election interference, a conviction would lead to jail time IMO.
It would be funny though to see him get sentenced to some sort of community service. I can’t imagine him stooping to having to serve someone else.
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This is fantastic. I want to see him do the perp walk.
Eh, they got Al Capone on tax evasion. If Trump committed a crime wrt Stormy Daniels, make him pay.
Don’t want to go to jail over something of that nature? Don’t run for President after committing that crime. Especially don’t see how many people in positions of power you can piss off when you’re guilty of a crime.
I wouldn’t feel the slightest bit bad about him serving the maximum time for the hush money incident.
Sure, I’d love to see him get arrested / convicted for some of his other crimes too. But no reason to sweep this one under the rug IMO. 
Agree to prosecute him completely. I just think most powerful people would not likely spend jail time over this type of conviction. Fine, maybe house arrest, probation, community service,… I hope I’m wrong though.
Yeah, even house arrest plus a guilty verdict plus community service would be a lot.
I dunno, his martyrdom is already surpassing most saints.
If he actually had to spend a couple days in jail, he’d be like Christ^2.
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It’ll be interesting to see what charges are brought. I’d agree that simply paying hush money probably doesn’t merit a jail sentence. I’m not certain that jail is appropriate for mischaracterization of the expense for tax purposes.
However, if obstruction of justice is among the charges…