Former President Donald Trump’s attorneys asked a federal judge Monday to reject special counsel Jack Smith’s request for a gag order in the classified documents case and to find the federal prosecutors who wrote the request in contempt.
I’m not sure how that would play out. I could see an argument being made that since it was all part of the same alleged criminal acts, it would be “forum shopping” and an attempted end run around double jeopardy. This argument would almost be guaranteed to be appealed right up to the Supreme Court, and we all know what’s likely to happen there, regardless of what the law clearly states.
And even beyond that, in the court of public opinion, this would just become more evidence that the “deep state” is “out to get him” by way of just bringing cases against him over and over until one of them sticks, diminishing the credibility and impact of the cases. At some point, to your average joe, and endless stream of charges will start to look like a political witch hunt no matter how valid those charges are, especially if the new cases are filed in response to other cases being dismissed.
I’m not sure how that would play out. I could see an argument being made that since it was all part of the same alleged criminal acts, it would be “forum shopping” and an attempted end run around double jeopardy. This argument would almost be guaranteed to be appealed right up to the Supreme Court, and we all know what’s likely to happen there, regardless of what the law clearly states.
And even beyond that, in the court of public opinion, this would just become more evidence that the “deep state” is “out to get him” by way of just bringing cases against him over and over until one of them sticks, diminishing the credibility and impact of the cases. At some point, to your average joe, and endless stream of charges will start to look like a political witch hunt no matter how valid those charges are, especially if the new cases are filed in response to other cases being dismissed.