Jan.25

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Dem 51

   

GOP 49

Willis' Judgment Cometh and That Right Soon

At the moment, Georgia Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney is considering whether or not to make public the report produced by the special grand jury in its investigation of efforts by Donald Trump and others to overturn the 2020 election results. We would certainly like to see that report, and so we've been watching the proceedings in anticipation of his decision.

Things just got considerably more interesting, however. Fulton County DA Fani Willis, like most prosecutors, would prefer not to lay her cards on the table until she absolutely has to. And so, she's been in court trying to persuade McBurney to cool his jets. And as part of that argument, she said something yesterday that is going to make a lot of people's ears perk up: The grand jury recommended several indictments, and there's no need to jump the gun, because her decision about those indictments is "imminent."

We do not know anything more than that. However, here are our impressions based on that information:

• "Imminent," to us, does not mean "sometime this year." No, it means "sometime in the next month or two, if not sooner." That's particularly true when the promise of an imminent decision is being made in order to try to influence a judge; judges have little patience for word games.
  
  
• There is also the fact that the 2024 election gets a little closer every day, which means that a prosecution of a potential presidential candidate gets a little more fraught each day. If the trigger is going to be pulled, and the gun is pointed in Donald Trump's direction, then it needs to be sooner rather than later.
  
  
• Speaking of Donald Trump, based on what is publicly known, he appears to be more exposed here than anyone besides, perhaps, Rudy Giuliani. It is hard to imagine that charges are brought against the people who aided Trump, but not Trump himself.
  
  
• Prosecutors are not known for declining the opportunity to indict when a grand jury recommends it, particularly when they have spent multiple years on an investigation, and particularly when a conviction could vault them several steps up the political ladder.
  
  
• Similarly, it doesn't take much time to decide "no indictments." On the other hand, if a DA has decided to indict, it does take some time for them to get their legal case together.

Adding it up, and we would guess that Trump ends up indicted in Georgia sometime before April 1. Undoubtedly, many Americans and many readers of this site will be watching eagerly to see if that is the case, or if the catlike Trump expends yet another of his apparently limitless supply of lives and manages to dodge yet another legal bullet. (Z)