LOOSE CANNON — The Weekly Opine

Lining up like dominoes, indictment trials look dire for Trump in 2024. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Thank you, may we have another?

Last week, Aileen Cannon, the Trump-appointed South Florida federal judge now assigned to oversee his classified documents trial, made another head-scratching ruling. Now, Trump surely regrets appointing the in-over-her-head newbie judge. (You wonder how soon Trump will resort to his reflexive behavior of publicly berating judges and prosecutors who rule against him. Will he fire off trash-talk insults at Judge Cannon?)

After weighing court filings from Special Counsel Jack Smith, who argued for a speedy trial starting in December, versus Trump’s defense attorneys, who pled for a delay until after the November 2024 presidential election, Judge Cannon took the easy way out, virtually splitting the difference.

Last week’s ruling is another sign Trump is losing his grip trying to influence and control everyone in his orbit. Prior to last week’s ruling, Trump took to his farcical social media platform and instructed his handpicked judge to set a trial date after the 2024 election. Presumably, this would allow Trump to pardon himself if convicted of federal crimes. (Fortunately, Trump would have no power to undo convictions in New York and Georgia. And even more fortunately, if Democrats play it smart Trump will not be elected president in 2024, which would stop him from tossing out his indictments during the appeals phase.)

Judge “Loose” Cannon, possibly consulting a Ouija board or listening to Sinatra sing, “That’s life, riding high in April, shot down in May,” settled on a May 20, 2024, trial date. Neither side – the special counsel or defense attorneys – is happy with Cannon’s decision. However, upon further review (I did not consult NFL replay booth officials to come up with this) it appears Judge Cannon did a “solid” for Jack Smith and other prosecutors homing in on Trump.

Looming over his head like Chicago skyscrapers, indictment trial dates will clutter Trump’s 2024 calendar. (Photos credit The Weekly Opine)

Play dates

As it appears now, Trump should have plenty of “play dates” with the judicial system next year. Already, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg set a March 25, 2024, trial date for Trump, regarding financial crimes related to hush money payments to a porn star. Bragg, who dropped a whopping 34-count felony indictment on Trump, announced his trial date several weeks ago.

Trapped like mice, Judge Cannon faced a quandary. She would have to set a trial date earlier, closer to what the special counsel wanted, or set a date after Bragg’s date. If the judge chose a date too far after March 25th, e.g., in the summer, she risked the inevitable trial delays pushing Trump’s court date after the election. That would further taint her already indelibly stained legacy. Ultimately, Judge Cannon played it safe, choosing May 20. (The correct choice would have been February 2024.)

Regardless, by announcing a trial date of May 20 next year, Judge Cannon opened enticing possibilities for those seeking to hold Trump – arguably the most privileged-turned-criminal person in U.S. history – accountable for his encyclopedia-sized acts of thuggish, fascist-tinged lawlessness.

Special Counsel Smith, also on the verge of indicting criminal target Trump for felonies committed while orchestrating the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building, should be able to convince a Washington, D.C., federal judge to set a trial date late this year or early next year.

Down South, Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis, closing in on indicting Trump on felony charges that may include racketeering, could go to trial late this year, worse case by next spring.

Regardless, as it stands now, you need an abacus to tally the felonies staring at Trump.

The goal is to put Trump in prison where he belongs. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

A busy bee

Whomever is Trump’s administrative assistant (the toady Lindsey Graham? “Little” Marco Rubio?) will have their hands full making sure Trump keeps up with a potentially tightly packed trial calendar. If prosecutors act with strategic coordination, the trial schedule could look something like this:

· January 24, 2024 – this trial date is already set for E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit against Trump. (New York Judge Lewis Kaplan recently said, regarding Trump sexually assaulting Carroll, the jury in the sexual assault trial found Trump did in fact rape Carroll, “as rape is commonly understood.”)

· February 2024 – potential trial date for Trump’s felony crimes of conspiracy to defraud the United States, acts of deprivation of rights, and witness tampering, related to the January 6 insurrection.

· March 25, 2024 – this trial date is already set for Trump’s trial regarding a 34-count felony indictment for campaign finance crimes related to paying hush money to a porn star.

· April 2024 – potential trial date for Trump’s attempt to overturn Georgia’s presidential election results, including felony conspiracy to commit election fraud and racketeering. (My view is this trial should take place in December 2023. However, the special counsel may request that DA Willis wait until after the federal insurrection trial wraps.)

· May 20, 2020 – this trial date is already set regarding Trump’s 37-count felony indictment related to breaking the Espionage Act by stealing and withholding top secret classified documents and obstructing government attempts to retrieve the documents.

Just in case attorneys haven’t made it clear to him, I will. In 2024, Trump’s life will be hell.

A conviction on any of the cases, except for E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit, would likely result in Trump being sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

So, send flowers to Judge Cannon. Her trial date decision opens the door for prosecutors to line up Trump’s trials like dominoes. It is inconceivable Trump will squirm out of his mountain range of legal jeopardy.

And when they fall, at least one of the felony dominoes will hit the target.