Holy shit, that's how it works? I would have assumed that information would be sealed for a number of years.

I wonder if any of them have already received threats.

Well said

Nah, just the justice system processing another wanna be gangster that went on a crime spree. everything happening right now, across the board, is a direct consequence of his decisions and actions. Republicans choose to foolishly hitch themselves to him, personally.

Sort of. No matter what happens, Republicans aren't going anywhere. Democracy might.

It's not a death match but it's going to be a significant threshold where democracy gets further eroded or protected. Hopefully, it could be the end of Trump as a politician but who knows?

Keep in mind the Republicans are evolving beyond Trump, and this New Right is a real threat.

Case in point, that story earlier this week about Republican thinks tanks funding anti-education, anti-trans, anti-race mixing efforts, which stokes their culture war in ways that have and will continue to provoke real people to act in violent and harmful ways.

Now any person that orchestrates a criminal conspiracy to undermine democracy and install themselves as President could get charged. Is that really the America we want?

You can plead 'not guilty' even if you were arrested holding the bloody knife, its just not going to do you much good.

As for the presumption of innocence, as DA Willis put it in her statement this evening, an indictment is just a series of allegations, its up to the prosecutor and team to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. Going back to the knife analogy, you're going into the case where you're legally presumed innocent, but the bloody knife/witnesses will show that you stabbed that guy.

Well, you see, first amendment and all that.

Trump just happened to be recorded while saying out loud some random thoughts he happened to have at that particular moment.

He wasn't telling anyone to do anything, and his words were not targeted to anyone in particular.

Just because he happened to be on the phone with someone is completely coincidental and totally unrelated.

So, any attempt to charge Trump with a crime would mean that you are ONLY criminalizing THOUGHTS and SPEECH.

Checkmate.

This is basically the explanation Trump used in regards to the recent threat he made on Truth Social about going after anyone that goes after him.

The presumption of innocence is really important because it reduces the chance for abusing the prosecutorial process (of course that does still happen). Prosecutors must show beyond a reasonable doubt that a person is guilty. That's a high bar to clear, but it gets easier when the defendant builds you a staircase.

Every defendant deserves the right to plead guilty, even this criminal.

Because that’s the way it is man…

I can live-stream myself performing a public execution in front of a crowded stadium full of people, and plead not-guilty. And the presumption of innocence before the court means I can do that as much as I want regardless how obviously guilty I may be.

And like it or not, that’s better than the alternative. A presumption of guilt before the court opens oneself to much more easily be wrongfully imprisoned for crimes you didn’t commit. Not accounting for obvious injustices that have occurred due to shortcomings and corruption in the system, these initial principals give us the best shot at having a system that’s less likely to fuck us than not.

For those of us who aren't American and want to at least somehow keep track of what's going on in US politics I'd suggest what the fuck just happened today

I think its that the governor can't pardon him, Georgia has a pardon board that would be able to pardon him if they so chose.

He could not be federally pardoned, no. The State of Georgia can also pardon individuals of state crimes, but this requires the applicant has paid all fines amongst other requirements like being a law abusing citizen for over five years after serving their sentence. The governor cannot pardon.

Correct, because they are state charges. Presidents can only pardon federal crimes.

As I understand it yes. State crimes cannot be pardoned by the Federal level.

Trump only got ~13 of the 41 charges based on my count.