Today is Thursday, August 3, 2023. Today was an historic day in America – all for the wrong reasons, regretfully, as a former president was arraigned for the third time in as little as four months, this time in Washington, D.C., for his plot to overturn the 2020 election. Thus Donald J. Trump appeared in the DC federal courthouse to face charges brought against him by special counsel Jack Smith to plead not guilty to a four-count indictment. An online article for CNN written by Tierney Sneed appears on my smartphone entitled “Takeaways from the arraignment of Donald Trump in the special counsel’s election subversion case.”

The proceeding was not televised for everyone to see, but the article states it took twenty-seven minutes to process. The hearing marked the public debut of the team of lawyers in special counsel Jack Smith’s office who will be leading the prosecution.

Some of the takeaways from the hearing appear below:

• The Dumpf team telegraphed its maddening strategy of delay, delay, and further delay as it sought to slow-walk the schedule for the proceedings. The hearing was staid and pro forma except for the occasion when the judge said the prosecutors should file recommendations for the trial date and length in seven days, and that the Dumpf team should respond within seven days after that.

Dumpf attorney John Lauro told the judge that they would need to look at the amount of evidence they’ll be receiving from the government – which he said could be “massive.”

“Prosecutor Thomas Windom previewed that the special counsel would propose this case unfolding under a normal timeline under the Speedy Trial Act, which sets a time limit – unless certain exemptions are sought – for criminal cases to go to trial.”

The trial judge, Judge Tanya Chutkan, intends to schedule a trial date at an August 28 hearing, a magistrate judge said Thursday.

The Orange Defendant could argue that a trial should wait until after the 2024 election, an argument his legal team made unsuccessfully in the classified documents case, and his lawyers have also previewed efforts to seek a change of venue for the case, with claims that the DC jury pool is politically biased against the former president and 2024 Republican front-runner. Both appeals must be denied by Chutkan who is a solid, no-nonsense trial judge unlike that Eileen Cannon in the classified documents case in Florida.

• Trump’s court and campaign calendar is growing ever more crowded

Since this is the third indictment Dumpf has to pay attention to, there are more legal woes expected to plague Dumpf in the coming weeks as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to bring charges in her election subversion probe and it’s possible that Dumpf will be indicted in that.

And then there’s the other case from Smith alleging Dumpf mishandled classified documents from his White House and then obstructed the inquiry into the materials. That case is currently scheduled to go to trial next May, and there will be regular pretrial proceedings before that. There’s also the criminal case that Manhattan prosecutors brought against Dumpf for a 2016 campaign hush money scheme, currently slated for trial in March.

Let’s not forget a number of civil lawsuits the Orange Hemorrhoid faces, including a second defamation case brought by E. Jean Carroll, as well as the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case against his family and businesses. All of these legal entanglements should yield a massive headache for the former president who might be facing accountability for the first time in his miserable life.

This court calendar is overlaid against his 2024 campaign agenda as well. The first Republican presidential debate, for example, is scheduled for August 23. This debate Dumpf would be able to attend since it doesn’t pose a conflict with appearing again in federal court for a second appearance. But he’s already said he has no interest in attending this first debate.

• Key prosecutors are their public debut

Today marked the public debut of the Smith team that will handle the election subversion prosecution.

Smith attended the hearing, as he did for the first appearance in the classified documents case in Florida earlier this year. From eyewitness accounts, it looked as if Smith looked towards Dumpf more often than Dumpf looked over to him.

Thomas Windom spoke on behalf of the government today. Also at the prosecutors’ table was Molly Gaston, an alum of the DC U.S. attorney’s public integrity section, which handles some of the most politically sensitive cases for the Justice Department.

Gaston has an impressive resume of accomplishments: she was a lead prosecutor of last year’s contempt of Congress case against ex-Dumpf schlub adviser Steve Bannon and also worked on the prosecutions of Rick Gates – a former Dumpf campaign aide – and Paul Manafort, Dumpf’s 2016 campaign chairman.

• New Dumpf lawyers enters the spotlight

The Orange Hemorrhoid was represented by Lauro and Todd Blanche at today’s hearing. Lauro is a relatively recent addition to the Dumpf legal team and is handling the 2020-election-related matters.

Lauro, a new name to hate, did the talking for the defense at today’s hearing. He’s also made himself a prominent defender of the former president in the public arena, appearing in recent days on CNN and other networks.

Here is Lauro already adopting a slow-walk strategy that is symbolic of his boss, “All that we would ask, your honor, is the time to fairly defend our client. And to do that we need a little time .”[like after November 2024, your honor!]

• Trump makes his first appearance in a courthouse with deep symbolism for January 6

Dumpf’s appearance in this DC courthouse is rife with symbolism since it hosted the proceedings for more than 1,000 Dumpf supporters who have been charged for the riot. So why shouldn’t the ringleader of this failed coup not be arraigned in the same courthouse? It makes a whole lot of sense.

In the election subversion case, Herr Dumpf’s attorneys have previewed arguments that the case should be moved elsewhere, given the city’s progressive bent. But the DC federal courthouse is where hundreds of his acolytes have received fair trials, with some receiving acquittals, in the Capitol mob cases. Therefore, the trial judge would be wise not to change the venue in this case. Fuck Dumpf! He’s nothing special, in my opinion, and doesn’t merit special treatment here.

So there you have it: today’s unprecedented court hearing involving a former so-called president of the United States. I never thought of him as a legitimate president. Millions of other Americans felt the same as I.

This just in: Dumpf’s new defense attorney, John Lauro, recklessly admitted on the air that Dumpf committed crimes associated with the charges brought against him right on Fox News tonight! Lawrence O’Donnell is eagerly providing the evidence for everyone to hear. This is precious. What a nincompoop. I’m sure Jack Smith has the words of the reckless lawyer on tape right now! More evidence against his stupid client now offered by his incompetent lawyer! The case is now lost!

Tomorrow Elliot and I are going into Manhattan to see poor Joan Crawford’s last film, Trog, which was made in 1970, at the Village East Cinema. The film itself received only a 13 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating, which is quite bad. The only reason we’re seeing this awful sci-fi film is that the production is hosted by well-known drag queen Hedda Lettuce. She used to host a different film series at the cinema on 14th Street and Eighth Avenue. (I can’t recall the theater’s original name since it’s gone through so many new names since the old theater was bought by another management company years ago.) The movie goes on at 7:30 and I will probably not write the blog tomorrow night then.

Have a good weekend then.

Stay safe and be well.