Trump Indictment

On Tuesday Trump was indicted (again) for attempting to commit election fraud. I read the case so you don’t have to. Also, don’t worry I tried to look at this from a neutral standpoint (far more difficult than I anticipated).

I know I’m not a political expert, however it’s interesting to dive into the things that drive our world. Today will be a bit more about policy, and less about cool tech. Back to regularly scheduled programming next week :)

Lessons

1. Fear is the mind killer: A quote from the best novel ever, Dune.

2. Tasks don’t disappear if you don’t do them: I’ve had one project that has been miserable. It’s been a slog for almost a month, and the last task is swelling in complexity. It got easier as soon as I just started working.

Indictment Summary

Jack Smith is the prosecutor who filed the case against Donald Trump. The crux of it is that Donald Trump claimed that there had been election determinant fraud in the 2020 election, without which he would have won. Meanwhile, the prosecution alleges that he knew these claims were false and pressured officials to act outside of their normal capacity.

What’s interesting is the third point in the introduction, which states that the defendant has the right to speak freely based on the first amendment. The alleged crime is the conspiracy to defraud the United States and prevent the congressional proceedings on January 6th.

In section 11 of the suit the prosecution alleges that trump actively ignored information that proved the election results were legitimate

The state of Michigan’s speaker of the house said the following:

“I fought hard for President Trump. Nobody wanted him to win more than me. I think he's done an incredible job. But I love our republic, too. I can't fathom risking our norms, traditions and institutions to pass a resolution retroactively changing the electors for Trump, simply because some think there may have been enough widespread fraud to give him the win. That's unprecedented for good reason. And that's why there is not enough support in the House to cast a new slate of electors. I fear we'd lose our country forever.”

Through the notes concerning each state, the prosecution claims the President tried to influence legal proceedings. Many, including his own supporters, stood for the integrity of the election. This shows that the checks and balances to keep the system safe, work.

Between December 31 and January 6 the former President went to the attorney general to coerce the attorney generals office to send a letter which would invalidate the election. One of his advisors even suggested use of the insurrection act, which allows the President to deploy the military and crush rebellions.

The suit also alleges that the former President tried to pressure his vice President to change the outcome of the election with his ceremonial role of certifying the elections

The craziest parts of the suit are at the end, where the former President even told the vice President “You're too honest.” Then the prosecution dives into a description of January 6th, which is still a wild read.