So what’s going to happen tomorrow? Trump is supposed to report to the federal courthouse in Miami for a 3 pm EST hearing. I am hearing on MSNBC that Judge Aileen M. Cannon will not oversee the hearing. Normally a criminal defendant would be fingerprinted, handcuffed, and photographed before such a hearing, but Trump may get a waiver on that. It’s not clear if Trump will be allowed to speak or asked to enter a plea. After the hearing Trump is expected to fly to New Jersey and delivery remarks from his golf club in Bedminster at 8:15.
Trump faces a lawyer shortage, especially lawyers admitted to the Florida bar and admitted to practice in the Southern District of Florida, There are reports some criminal defense attorneys contacted by Trump’s team have turned the job down already. One suspects they aren’t going to get the crème de la crème of available attorneys.
Trump supporters on social media and elsewhere are vowing war.
Escalating violent rhetoric in online forums, coupled with defiant statements from the former president and his political allies, have put law enforcement officials on alert for potential disruptions ahead of Trump’s court appearance. He is facing a 37-count federal indictment, 31 of which allege he willfully kept classified documents in his possession after leaving the White House. …
… Trump, during a radio interview with longtime adviser Roger Stone on Sunday afternoon, repeated his call for protests. For his part, Stone — who helped mobilize the protest movement that drew thousands to the nation’s capital on Jan. 6, 2021 — encouraged demonstrators to remain peaceful, civil and legal.
But Trump’s supporters have at times alluded to potential violence — including Kari Lake, a Republican from Arizona, who has planned a rally in support of Trump at a hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday night. During a conference of Georgia Republicans on Saturday, Lake suggested Trump’s prosecution could be met with violence, noting that she and other supporters are members of the National Rifle Association.
“If you want to get to President Trump, you’re going to have to go through me, and you’re going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me,” Lake said, drawing roaring cheers and a standing ovation. Earlier in her speech, she called the indictment “illegitimate” and told the audience, “We’re at war, people — we’re at war.” …
… Still, calls for street action were scarce, and no nationally coordinated response appeared to emerge over the weekend from Trump’s fragmented base.
See also ‘I Want Blood’: Heavily-Armed Trump Supporters Say They’ll Protest Trump’s Indictment by David Gilbert at Vice and A Cold Civil War Is Upon Us by David Kurtz at TPM.
So we’ll see if there’s much of a mob tomorrow. Local law enforcement will be ready, I’m sure. (But if it gets out of hand, would DeSantis call the National Guard? Probably not.) Let’s hope that counter-protesters who might be there avoid confrontation with the MAGAs. Or else just stay home. If there is violence, let it be on the heads of MAGAs.
Also today, Trump vowed on social media that if he is re-elected, he will direct a special counsel to “go after” Joe Biden and his family. The concept of an independent judiciary continues to elude him.
In other news: Tucker Carlson started a video news show on Twitter. Fox News sent him a cease-and-desist letter. “Fox is continuing to pay Carlson, and maintains that his contract keeps his content exclusive to Fox through Dec. 31, 2024,” it says at Axios.