A phalanx of cameras and cops gathered Thursday to greet Donald Trump outside a D.C. courthouse as the former president returned to face the consequences of his effort to overturn the 2020 election.
TrumpB次元官网网址檚 motorcade arrived at the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse about 45 minutes early, steering clear of the growing crowds out front and entering the building by way of an underground parking garage.
Hundreds of people, most of them either law enforcement officers or media crews, encircled the courthouse for much of the day in anticipation of TrumpB次元官网网址檚 arrival.
The crowds grew steadily in size throughout the afternoon as the former presidentB次元官网网址檚 hour of reckoning grew closer, with crowds of onlookers jostling for position alongside camera operators craning for a better view.
Just around the corner loomed the U.S. Capitol, a much quieter place than it was Jan. 6, 2021, the day legions of TrumpB次元官网网址檚 supporters stormed the complex to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president.
Nearby, the pro-democracy group Public Citizen gathered to mark what executive vice-president Lisa Gilbert called a routine occasion: the justice system working as intended.
B次元官网网址淒onald Trump has now been criminally charged for attempting to stop the peaceful transfer of power B次元官网网址� and the charges come from the very government that he attempted to take over by force,B次元官网网址� Gilbert said.
B次元官网网址淭here can be no more serious alleged crime than a conspiracy to overturn the very foundation of our democracy: the right of all Americans to cast our vote and have it be counted.B次元官网网址�
Work crews spent the night encircling the courthouse with bike rack-style barricades B次元官网网址� a far cry from the two-metre fences that were often a fixture in the city during TrumpB次元官网网址檚 presidency.
Much as they did for his previous two arraignments, cable news networks breathlessly covered TrumpB次元官网网址檚 journey from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., to an airport in Newark, where his private plane was waiting to spirit him to D.C.
A small battalion of snow plow trucks sat parked along one side street B次元官网网址� a common sight in the U.S. at events where extra traffic blockades are needed.
Just a handful of protesters B次元官网网址� some supporting Trump, others decidedly not B次元官网网址� showed up, only to find themselves vastly outnumbered by members of the media.
The occasional chant of B次元官网网址淟ock him upB次元官网网址� went up from passersby. One supporter brandished a sign that said, simply, B次元官网网址淭rump won.B次元官网网址� Around the corner, a man in a jailbird suit languished on a park bench.
And in a park between the courthouse and the neighbouring Canadian Embassy, a protester was putting the finishing touches on a large plywood billboard, painted in the style of TrumpB次元官网网址檚 familiar campaign colours, that bore a single word: B次元官网网址淟oser.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭his is not a celebration; this is, in fact, a reckoning,B次元官网网址� said Svante Myrick, president of the pro-democracy group People for the American Way.
B次元官网网址淭he only thing more dangerous than arraigning a former president for his crimes is allowing a president to attempt to subvert our democracy and then get away with it.B次元官网网址�
Trump faces four new charges: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights.
TuesdayB次元官网网址檚 45-page indictment B次元官网网址� the third against Trump in just four months B次元官网网址� lays out in precise detail a multi-pronged effort to prevent Joe Biden from being confirmed as U.S. president.
Trump is already facing 74 other charges, including 34 felony counts in New York tied to hush-money payments, and 40 more in Florida over classified documents he allegedly stored at his Mar-a-Lago stronghold.
So far, his legal woes appear to have done nothing but help his bid to secure the Republican nomination for president in 2024 B次元官网网址� recent polls suggest heB次元官网网址檚 running away with the race.
The latest case, however, is the one that is likely to resonate the most on the campaign trail, given how it lays out a direct assault on U.S. democracy, said Matthew Lebo, a politics professor at Western University in London, Ont.
But while itB次元官网网址檚 theoretically possible Trump could withdraw from the race if convicted, previous experience suggests thatB次元官网网址檚 not at all likely, Lebo said.
B次元官网网址淪o if he goes forward and contests primaries and collects delegates, then heB次元官网网址檚 going to be the nominee,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚f heB次元官网网址檚 convicted before the election, I donB次元官网网址檛 know B次元官网网址� I canB次元官网网址檛 imagine what that means.B次元官网网址�
So long as he continues to enjoy the backing of a majority of Republicans in Congress, Lebo said, itB次元官网网址檚 hard to imagine him going to prison.
B次元官网网址淚 think he runs, and I think B次元官网网址� even if heB次元官网网址檚 convicted, or is right in the middle of a trial B次元官网网址� I think heB次元官网网址檚 still going to get 40 per cent of the vote,B次元官网网址� he said.
B次元官网网址淎nd the Republican Party will not move away from him until he decides heB次元官网网址檚 done.B次元官网网址�
Special counsel Jack Smith used blunt language to describe the stakes when he released the indictment Tuesday.
B次元官网网址淭he attack on our nationB次元官网网址檚 Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy,B次元官网网址� Smith said.
B次元官网网址淚t was fuelled by lies B次元官网网址� lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the U.S. government and the nationB次元官网网址檚 process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election.B次元官网网址�
The indictment references six different alleged co-conspirators, but does not disclose their identities. Media reports and known facts point to five names, all of them central players in the effort to overturn the results.
They include Trump ally Rudy Giuliani; lawyer John Eastman, who proposed enlisting then-vice-president Mike Pence to reject Electoral College votes; and campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, who spearheaded a doomed, conspiracy-laden court challenge.
SmithB次元官网网址檚 indictment also alleges that Trump and his officials had been warned of the risk of violence. A senior adviser told Eastman, one of the architects of the plan, B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檙e going to cause riots in the streets.B次元官网网址�
Eastman B次元官网网址� identified in the indictment only as B次元官网网址淐o-Conspirator 2B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� responded that B次元官网网址渢here had previously been points in the nationB次元官网网址檚 history where violence was necessary to protect the republic.B次元官网网址�
The following day, PenceB次元官网网址檚 lawyer told Eastman that his scheme would result in a B次元官网网址渄isastrous situationB次元官网网址� where the election might B次元官网网址渉ave to be decided in the streets.B次元官网网址�
For weeks, Trump has been cultivating moral support among his loyal base by framing the indictment as a politically motivated witch hunt B次元官网网址� a drumbeat that continued Wednesday in a flurry of social media posts and fundraising pitches.
So far, itB次元官网网址檚 proven an effective strategy.
Among Republicans, he currently enjoys a staggering 37-point lead over his closest challenger, the faltering Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a new poll released Monday by Siena College and the New York Times suggests.
DeSantis managed just 17 per cent support with likely Republican primary voters to TrumpB次元官网网址檚 54 per cent. Former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott and ex-VP Pence all sat a distant third with three per cent each.
Perhaps more surprising, in surveying voters of all political stripes about the 2024 presidential election, that same poll found a dead heat between Trump and incumbent Biden, tied at 43 per cent.
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