Donald Trump’s legal options are partly tied to his political success: winning the presidential election is his best legal strategy to fight his criminal cases.
A harrowing video shown Wednesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago was a painful reminder of what that means for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, both for Trump’s own criminal case and for the Jan. 6 defendants more broadly.
The video, which highlights the Trump-inspired violence of that day, runs just under four minutes and is worth watching:
More than a reminder (important in its own right), the video underscores how Trump, if elected, will have the power not only to crush his own case of federal election interference, but also to pardon the rioters he inspired to storm the Capitol. It specifically listed the four charges the GOP presidential candidate faces in his arraignment in Washington, D.C.: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy against rights, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and obstruction of and attempted obstruction of an official proceeding. (Trump has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing.)
I started this post by noting that Trump’s legal exposure partially tied to his political success, because the Supreme Court has already given him a head start. In Trump v. United States last month, the Republican-appointed majority made at least some of Trump’s conduct immune from prosecution; the extent of that immunity is still being debated and likely won’t be fully resolved before the election. In another ruling related to Jan. 6 this past term, Fischer v. United States, the court narrowed obstruction charges against the Jan. 6 defendants, which could also affect obstruction-related charges against Trump. As with the immunity issue, the extent to which that happens remains to be seen.
So if Trump loses in November, the question remains what will become of his January 6 indictment. If he wins, we may never know the answer.
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This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
