Now that we’re getting a view of the dynamics of Donald Trump on trial – not indicted, not awaiting, not the first of this or that – but actually on trial with the requirement to be there and well be on trial, it’s worth revisiting where we may be this fall. As we know SCOTUS decided to do Donald Trump a massive solid by first refusing to take up Trump’s immunity appeal without first being heard by the DC circuit court. Then they really piled on the favors by agreeing to take up the case in full after the circuit court emphatically shot it down. The SCOTUS hearing is next Thursday and realistically we may not get a decision until June. That puts the beginning of the trial into late summer at the earliest and quite possibly into September.
Set aside for the moment that the appeal itself is baseless and out of sync with American law that few think there’s any chance of Trump actually getting any relief even from this Supreme Court. But it’s been treated as a scandal that the Court has taken upon itself to delay the trial anyway from four to six months. It very much is a scandal and not one that can be explained by any sort of apolitical weddedness to procedure or practice. But sometimes getting what you want may not be all it’s cracked up to be.