This column is a leap of faith — and, as anyone who knows me well knows, leaps of faith are not something that I do well or often. Perhaps, it comes from finally taking on board the message, once bitten twice shy or more accurately, in my case, 4,342 times bitten, finally shy. And, as I sit here writing this, I don’t have the benefit of a crystal ball to see what the next weeks hold for any of us.
However, by the time that you read this column, we should be a week into jury selection for Trump’s election interference case in New York — the first time that he has been held accountable, in any sense, in a criminal court for his egregious behavior, before, during, and after his presidency. And, if I were a betting person, I would also wager that by the time this column comes out, he will have violated his gag order at least once, as he fumes at the world while his delay tactics sputter.
For the last year, we have been bombarded by the media — both on the left and right of the political spectrum — that this is the least consequential of his many criminal cases. And, it has been repeatedly framed in its sleaziest terms as a hush money attempt to silence a sex worker. But, the reality of this case is not that different from what we see in the J6 case in Washington, D.C. or Georgia. It is an attempt by a sore loser — who has been enabled and coddled their whole life, thanks to money and white privilege — to subvert the outcome of an election, simply because they think they can.
I am not sure that there will be major fireworks like out of the movie A Few Good Men in the first week of the trial — although one could naturally anticipate that Trump will glower at Judge Merchan and potential jurors and deliver unhinged, off-the-cuff remarks to gathered reporters during court recesses. But, fireworks are not what any of us need. Instead, we need to see the slow, deliberate, and methodical competence of our (frankly flawed) legal system that shows that no one grifter is above the law.
Would I love to see Trump receive a lengthy jail sentence for his role in orchestrating this scheme? Absolutely. But, I also understand that as a narcissist, it will be exquisite punishment for Trump to have to sit there quietly and cede control and power to Judge Merchan … and I will take joy in that.
No matter what happens in the New York court, Trump’s legal calendar for the year continues to be crowded — and it may get even more crowded as Arizona ramps up its investigation into election interference.
-Bree J. Schuette
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