The third and fourth point are what Trump wants. He doesn’t care about losing the case. As long as he gets elected President in 2024, he can pardon himself, take over the DOJ, and have all his political enemies arrested. If a judge says that his self pardon is unconstitutional, they get added to the political enemies list, arrested, and replaced with a new judge that says it’s perfectly fine.
Trump wants to have clips that he can play to rile up his base. Suppose a judge says “The defendant, Mr. Trump, has said that there’s a conspiracy against him and that I’m in this conspiracy.” Trump would release a video of the judge saying “… There’s a conspiracy against… Mr. Trump… I’m in this conspiracy…”
Trump’s base would then either elect him President or, if he loses, commit acts of violence in Trump’s name in the hopes that this will get him appointed President.
Presidents can’t pardon themselves of state crimes. He is being prosecuted for a crime in the state of Georgia. Being president would not get him out of that.
The third and fourth point are what Trump wants. He doesn’t care about losing the case. As long as he gets elected President in 2024, he can pardon himself, take over the DOJ, and have all his political enemies arrested. If a judge says that his self pardon is unconstitutional, they get added to the political enemies list, arrested, and replaced with a new judge that says it’s perfectly fine.
Trump wants to have clips that he can play to rile up his base. Suppose a judge says “The defendant, Mr. Trump, has said that there’s a conspiracy against him and that I’m in this conspiracy.” Trump would release a video of the judge saying “… There’s a conspiracy against… Mr. Trump… I’m in this conspiracy…”
Trump’s base would then either elect him President or, if he loses, commit acts of violence in Trump’s name in the hopes that this will get him appointed President.
Presidents can’t pardon themselves of state crimes. He is being prosecuted for a crime in the state of Georgia. Being president would not get him out of that.