Donald Trump is facing legal jeopardy on a variety of charges that range from financial crimes and inciting an insurrection to meddling in the 2020 presidential election. And when he and his attorneys look at the venues where future trials of the former president may be held, they see bad news all around.
Attorney Mark Hermann, writing for Above the Law, warns that if indeed Trump is indicted and brought to trial in New York, Washington, D.C., or Atlanta, juries in those cities will not exactly be favorable to him:
“Several of the prosecutors pursuing Trump choose to indict him. It’s relatively easy for prosecutors to pick juries in New York City, Atlanta, or Washington, D.C. Those are heavily Democratic cities; any ’12 good men and true’ (sorry for the sexism, but the quote’s from the 17th century) would be happy to convict on the appropriate evidence. The prosecutors conduct the trials of the century. We all enjoy the spectacle on television. Trump spends the rest of his life behind bars.”
Hermann goes on to add that civil suits pose just as much danger to Trump as criminal ones:
“Civil cases pose enormous risk to Trump. Trump has to testify under oath in multiple proceedings. He has to pay defense costs. Folks injured in the storming of the Capitol choose to name Trump personally in many lawsuits. Plaintiffs, encouraged by counsel who want to make names for themselves, choose to roll the dice rather than settle. Trump is hit for massive verdicts.”
Imagine Trump being forced to pay massive fines and lawyer bills, along with multimillion dollar verdicts in which he has to fork over huge sums of money to hundreds or even thousands of people who say he lied to them and now they want their pound of flesh. Given that Trump is already facing a very uncertain financial future as banks are reluctant to loan him money, he could soon be filing for bankruptcy and having to liquidate his real estate holdings. The Trump Organization could wind up being shuttered and its individual parts sold to the highest bidder in order to pay Trump’s endless bills.
New York, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta hold the key to Donald Trump’s uncertain (and unsteady) future. If juries in those cities find him guilty of the crimes he’s charged with, the former president will soon be broke and headed to prison for decades.
Sounds exactly like what needs to happen.
