The Jan. 6 Trump indictment is traumatic — and cathartic: We may be free of him at last
SalonI cannot say this more bluntly: Donald Trump is going to prison — and I don't think he'll be on the ballot next year. For the last two and a half years, a narrative has emerged among Trump's supporters: The insurrection I witnessed, according to those who weren't there or who choose to ignore the facts, never occurred. In the New York Times, Randall D. Eliason, former chief of the fraud and public corruption section at the U.S. attorney's office in D.C., believes that Jack Smith's recent indictment reflects "smart lawyering," and will present a "compelling case" while avoiding some "potential land mines that could be lurking in other charges," including the potential for a First Amendment defense. The Jan. 6 indictment begins by noting the egregious lie that election fraud had changed the outcome and that Trump "had actually won." On MSNBC Wednesday morning, attorney George Conway said of Trump, "I just don't see how he survives all of these cases," because "he's played Russian roulette with the law."