What Happens After Trump is Convicted?

      Considering how sluggish the Biden Justice Department has acted toward Trump and his countless crimes until the last several weeks, that's a big If.

      By now, I'd think a big chunk of the US news consuming public knows the news that's come out of Mar a Lago since August 8th- That morning, the FBI served a lawful search warrant of Trump's property in Palm Beach and executed it. They got their hands on 11 sets of documents comprising some 10 to 12 boxes, making the total haul since January up to 27 boxes of documents that Trump hoarded and took to Mar a Lago, several of them so highly classified they were designated Top Secret. We learned from the documents served by the FBI that they feared some of them pertained to our nuclear arsenal.

     Obviously, this is unprecedented in American history. None of Trump's 44 predecessors had such a cavalier and proprietary attitude toward sensitive documents generated during their administrations. Of course, this is largely if not entirely attributable to the fact that six years ago, we "elected" the most staggeringly corrupt crook since Boss Tweed.

     So, what happens if and when Trump gets convicted and sentenced for violating any of the three federal statutes specified in the DOJ's affidavit for the search warrant?

     Well, the good news is that according to legal experts, successful prosecution of any violation of those three statutes does not hinge on whether or not the documents were classified. That. of course, would automatically kneecap one of Trump's countless shifting rationales for stealing the documents in the first place.

     The bad news is that those same legal experts are telling us that successful prosecution of those three statutes will not prevent Trump for running for office again in 2024. And that's because nothing supersedes the Constitution. And the Constitution is quite clear: One needs to be a natural born US resident of at least 35 years of age or a resident of the United States for at least 14 years.

     Of course, those conditions were written into the Constitution when 35 was considered over half the life expectancy of a US male and far before the 25th amendment was ratified. It also doesn't mention the impediments of successful impeachment.

     The silver lining to the bad news is that 2024 represents Trump's last shot at stealing the presidency. By 2028, he'll be 82 years-old and MAGA world, if it still exists by then, will then be eight years into the Big Lie and, chances are, or we can hope, he'll be dead by then.

     But in this, the twilight of Trump's lifetime, we have to think in the here and now or the near future and begin worrying about what will happen when and if he's convicted of high crimes and misdemeanors.

     Part of the problem is the very highly classified nature of the documents. We're talking nuclear secrets. We're talking signal intelligence. We're talking God knows what else. The list of documents sought by the DOJ on the 8th would be on the affidavit that needed to be filled and out and presented to the judge before he signed off on the search warrant.

     Judge Magistrate Bruce Reinhart isn't in favor of a total redaction of the affidavit nor is he any more disposed to releasing it to the public as is. So, if and when Trump is convicted of these charges, we're not going to have a clear idea of what, exactly, or pertaining to which documents if national security prevents the court from releasing its contents. That will just feed into MAGAworld's fact-free conspiracy theories about the "deep state".

     Could there another January 6th? Oh, you're damned skippy there could be. Look at what happened on the original January 6th and that was just Trump whining about losing an election. They killed at least one cop and injured over 140 others. Imagine the turnout and level of dedication and actual firepower that a Trump conviction and/or a sentencing will inspire.

     So, does that mean the DOJ should just drop all charges or even not charge Trump for anything because of vague or future threats of stochastic terrorism?

     Fuck no. Laws are only as efficacious as their enforcement. We let Trump walk, it'll just embolden him and others like him to commit more crimes. That's how it works with people like this. You give them an inch, they take a parsec. Not coincidentally, this is how children act. They test boundaries. And if those boundaries aren't enforced and maintained, they eventually think they can get away with anything and everything.

     This is precisely the kind of childhood Donald Trump had. Where there were no boundaries, no rules because of his last name and family's fortune.

     69 years after he assaulted his music teacher, here we are. A little boy still nursing an ancient grudge against a long-dead brother who gave him the only comeuppance he ever suffered in his life- Donald Trump is still picking those mashed potatoes out of his hair, still kicking in the shins everyone who knows better than him, which is virtually everyone.
     All because we took too literally and seriously the hoary old adage that anyone can grow up to be the president of the United States.

     And, of course, to make that work, one actually needs to grow up.