Timing isn’t everything. But it certainly matters, and seldom more so than in special counsel Jack Smith’s prosecution of Donald Trump.

The former US president intends to use timing – delay, delay, delay – to avoid punishment for trying to overturn the 2020 election, which he lost to Joe Biden, and for fomenting a violent coup.

Nope, said Smith this week. A tough guy who has prosecuted war crimes in the Hague, Smith clearly recognizes that putting off the case until after next fall’s presidential election could let Trump off the hook.

So the prosecutor made a bold legal maneuver. Smith moved to bypass the court of appeals, whose involvement could slow things down considerably, and to go directly to the US supreme court for a decision on a foundational issue.

  • @tsonfeir
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    395 months ago

    If they rule that Trump is above the law, that sets a precedence that can be used by Biden to do whatever he wants.

    Jack Smith is calling their bluff

    • @CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world
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      195 months ago

      Yeah…I’m not holding my breath.

      If there’s one thing I can count on for conservatives is that the rules are for everyone else. If a conservative breaks a law, it was justified and they’ll never do it again. And if they do, it means that the law was pointless to begin with. But no liberal better break it too!