There are culprits and there are no culprits.
Then there’s “whatever,” the verdict that Donald Trump had already delivered long before a New York court handed down its sentence.
Beyond the breakdown of a 12-member jury panel, the part of America that will shrug at the conclusion of this case means that Donald Trump has people he can work with politically. For now at least.
Time will tell how the state changes “offender” affects his attempt to return to the White House. In particular, polls indicate that he will not be well liked among independent voters.
For his opponents, it will be necessary, because, in six weeks of a criminal trial, it was not like that.
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Despite all the talk of due process having its due impact on a presidential campaign, of evidence uncovered to obtain a political death sentence, the Trump campaign is still alive and well.
Head-to-head polls with Joe Biden still show a close race, with Trump leading in key states. The trial has also boosted his campaign fund: His fundraising was higher than Joe Biden’s in the month of April, the first time in 2024.
While this trial has been a resounding legal milestone for the United States, there are reasons why it has not had the impact it could have had and as Trump’s opponents would have hoped.
Stormy Daniels. Photo: AP
Of the four criminal proceedings he faces, this was the least serious. Compared to the heavy charges related to the mishandling of classified government documents and efforts to subvert democracy, the New York crimes had a featherweight feel.
It was more than the “accounting error” Trump would have us believe, but there are factors beyond his characterization that minimize the impact.
The prosecution’s witness list was populated with unfriendly characters to whom you wouldn’t hand over the keys to your house.
Michael Cohen, also known as a star witness, presented his own story of theft, dishonesty and tax evasion. Then there was David Pecker, the elusive tabloid scoundrel who brought us headlines like “Clumsy surgeon Ben Carson left a sponge in patient’s brain.”
They were central to a prosecutorial case wrapped in a rogue package and weakened the “good versus evil” narrative that sharpens the public response.
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There was also the issue of test fatigue, even before it began. The charges, the witnesses’ evidence, and the defendants’ response had been aired loudly and often in the months leading up to the trial itself.
Five weeks of evidence provided gripping insight; We had heard the headlines before. The cases for the prosecution and defense were pre-established in the public consciousness and, to a large extent, so were the conclusions about guilt and innocence.
Then the noises died down. Time spent in the vicinity of courtroom number 1530 in Lower Manhattan was time spent listening to Donald Trump campaign in the hallways of the courthouse, with a supporting cast addressing the media outside.
“This is a rigged trial”
Suburban vehicles and the Secret Service transported the great and good of the modern Republican Party from the Capitol in daily convoys to sound a chorus of “phony trials, an armed justice department and a political witch hunt.”
It was a political wall of sound designed to drown out court business on any given day, every day. They weren’t headlines in this corner of Lower Manhattan, but they were enough headlines to influence the telling of the story.
Trump supporters outside the courthouse. Photo: Reuters
So what story will America tell when the dust settles on this, the only criminal trial Donald Trump is likely to face before the November election?
Will voters argue about Donald Trump? Definitely.
Will they be poring over the details and meaning of a felony conviction? Probably.
Will there be a lingering sense of shock and awe at the court’s evidence and the jury’s verdict? Almost certainly not.
What will happen next with Donald Trump?
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He has already been convicted of fraud in civil court and found responsible for sexual assault. The judge in the sexual assault case called it “rape.”
If Donald Trump were in prison, he would be segregated for his own safety, and yet among the general population he is well positioned to return to the presidency.
It is the curious context of this court case and its consequences. Whatever difference a criminal conviction makes, the sense of “whatever” could mean that it makes no difference.
This story originally appeared on News.sky.com read the full story
