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The Circus Maximus Comes for Trump

Spectacles aplenty as Bragg’s case is revealed.

Nested between the Palatine and Aventine hills in Rome, sits the largest capacity stadium ever built. In its prime, the Circus Maximus had the potential to seat an estimated 250,000 individuals, truly playing host to the largest spectacles of the ancient world. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg – with his successful arraignment of former President Donald Trump – appears set to claim that particular mantle. However, Bragg may not turn out to be the ringmaster of the whole affair.

Appearing in New York Criminal Court in Manhattan yesterday, April 4, Mr. Trump was formally charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree – to all of which he pleaded not guilty. The arraignment was swiftly over with barely a trumpet call or a chariot race in sight. In fact, it was not until after the unprecedented event that the real show began.

Trump Unchained?

“I never thought anything like this could happen in America,” Trump exclaimed to a supportive crowd at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. “Never thought it could happen. The only crime that I’ve committed is to fearlessly defend our nation from those who seek to destroy it.” “Even people that aren’t big fans have said this is not the right thing to do,” Trump said. “It’s an insult to our country as the world is already laughing at us for so many other reasons.” He continued:

“They can’t beat us at the ballot box, so they try to beat us through the law … We are a nation in decline, and now these radical left lunatics want to interfere in elections by using law enforcement. We can’t let that happen.”

Know Your Target

Despite being the leading headline generator for the last six years, it appears that those involved in the case do not really know Trump at all. The presiding judge, Juan Merchan, issued a thinly veiled warning to the former president, saying, “Please refrain from making statements that are likely to incite violence or civil unrest,” and to avoid rhetoric that could “jeopardize the rule of law.”

Would such advice be offered to any other defendant? Perhaps only if the judge believed the person before him had committed incitement before – a charge for which Donald Trump has neither been tried nor found guilty. But did the judge really expect this most bombastic of politicians to tamp down his language in the face of what he sees as a politically motivated “witch hunt”?

Former President Donald Trump Holds A Press Conference At Mar-a-Lago After Being Arraigned In New York

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

That Trump and his campaign will make political hay from the charges is as certain as the sun rising in the east. Multiple reports suggest that he has raised more than $10 million since news of the indictment, and T-shirts with a fake mugshot and the words “Not Guilty” emblazoned on the front are apparently selling like hotcakes. As well as the financial rewards the former president appears to be reaping (not even including the $120,000 Stormy Daniels was ordered to pay him on the same day as his court appearance), polls have been swinging away from DeSantis and towards Trump.

Weak Legal Sauce?

It was to be expected that a bevy of commentators on the political right would take Trump’s side on this issue. And yet support came from unlikely quarters.

Utah Senator Mitt Romney – a long-time Trump foe – whilst still taking a moment to swipe at the former president’s fitness for office, lambasted the legal case, saying, “Even so, I believe the New York prosecutor has stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda… No one is above the law, not even former presidents, but everyone is entitled to equal treatment under the law.” “The prosecutor’s overreach sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents and damages the public’s faith in our justice system,” he declared.

On the subject of felonies, the charges against Trump are Class E, which under New York law is one step above a misdemeanor. The sentencing, should Trump be found guilty, could range from 365 days to five years per count, potentially adding up to more than 100 years in prison.

Liberty Nation’s Legal Affairs Editor Scott D. Cosenza highlighted that a further element was needed to make this Class E charge stick. “Each of the 34 counts in the indictment says the charge includes ‘intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof.’ Bragg’s indictment does not list what other crime or crimes Mr. Trump aided by his alleged falsification of business records. However, speculation and reported leaks suggest Bragg will allege Trump committed election law violations over his so-called ‘hush-money’ payments to Stormy Daniels,” he noted.

So just how serious is Trump’s predicament? Cosenza pointed out that:

“Any time a person is facing a mountain of felony charges, the situation is critical. However, Alvin Bragg’s case is based on a novel legal theory, and Trump has a solid chance of getting the charges tossed. It is a chance, though, and it may not go Trump’s way, no matter the legal merits.”

New York Grand Jury Votes To Indict Former President Trump

(Photo by Kena Betancur/Getty Images)

It is being widely reported that Trump’s legal team is hoping to move the eventual trial – if not dismissed – to friendlier climes, noting that Manhattan has demonstrated at the ballot box that it is fertile anti-Trump territory. The most advantageous of locales could be Staten Island.

All the World’s a Stage

Sydney Blumenthal – a former senior advisor to both Bill and Hillary Clinton – wrote in the Guardian that “The indictment of Donald J. Trump has not driven a wooden stake through his heart.” He argues that:

“Every concrete count will confirm every conspiracy theory. Every prosecution and trial, staggered over months and into the election year, from New York to Georgia to Washington, will be a shock driving Republicans further to Trump. Every Republican candidate running for every office will be compelled to declare as a matter of faith that Trump is being unjustly persecuted or be themselves branded traitors.”

Blumenthal posits that the charges have made The Donald untouchable within his party and that his hold on the GOP – a party that had been notably split prior to the indictments – has been cemented. And judging by the reaction from even those who are vehemently anti-Trump, he appears to have a point.

The case is presently slated for early December – a notable date for its potential impact on the Republican presidential primary – will almost certainly be a matter of optics. The Manhattan DA will have to prove a case that even the federal government just a couple of years ago said couldn’t be made. For his part, Donald Trump will paint himself the victim of an unscrupulous Democrat operative. Both men see themselves playing the part of gladiators in the most significant political spectacle in recent history, one “fighting for the rule of law” and the other “fighting tyranny.”

Just a stone’s throw from the Circus Maximus is the famed Colosseum, where warriors would do battle and the masses would be entertained; it was not just gladiators and chariot races that entertained, however. Clowns (known as Stupidus) were an integral part of the panem et circenses. Each man should be aware that it is the public that will ultimately decide who plays which role.

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