Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Indictment(s) watch continues

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Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Indictment(s) watch continues ​

Saturday, July 29, 2023 at 4:00:11a PDT
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/20...Roundup-Indictment-s-watch-continues#comments

I'm so indicted, and I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control, and I think I like it.
The superseding indictment unsealed Thursday night is a BFD, but the one to come is an even bigger deal. The grand jury usually doesn’t meet again until Tuesday, but we shall see.
Charles P. Pierce/Esquire:
















Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Indictment(s) watch continues

The Trump Indictments Look More Gravely Serious Than I Anticipated
Don't play chess with Jack Smith under any circumstances—he's 10 moves ahead.
Trump Employee No. 4 is going to be a helluva witness, I'm thinking. And he's at least half-a-hero.
Consider how Smith has played this. First of all, he runs a grand jury in Florida on the Pool Shed Papers completely on the down low while the rest of us were wondering what he was up to in Washington. Then, on the day he has the Trump legal team in Washington in for a chat, his Florida grand jury drops the mother of all superseding indictments. Next he will saw Rudy Giuliani in half and make the 15th at Bedminster disappear.
I no longer have any doubt that the indictments coming out of Washington are going to be more gravely serious even than I had anticipated. After all, I'm the guy who didn't think the whole Pool Shed Papers thing ever would amount to much of anything. I was guessing with Jack Smith, who already was 10 moves ahead of where I thought I was and vanishing over a suddenly brighter horizon.

Charlie Sykes/The Bulwark:

Some quick takeaways:

• The new indictments give us a dramatic glimpse into Jack Smith’s modus operandi. He intends to keep going, and he’s prepared to escalate even after the original indictments are issued. Keep that in mind when he drops the J6 indictments.
• The original MAL doc case was already strong. Yesterday’s new charges make it even stronger. “I think this original indictment was engineered to last a thousand years and now this superseding indictment will last an antiquity (sic),” former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb told the Guardian. “This is such a tight case, the evidence is so overwhelming.”
• The new indictments shred two of Trump’s most prominent defenses: (1) that he had willingly shared surveillance footage, and (2) that he was just blustering when he said he had the actual Iran plans.
• Trump’s attempted coverup will take center stage at any trial.

Aaron Blake/The Washington Post:

3 things we learned from new charges against Trump in documents case
Here are some takeaways.

1. THE GROWING PICTURE OF A COVERUP​

It’s been apparent for a long time that this case wasn’t just about Trump possessing classified documents when he shouldn’t; it was about allegedly failing to return them when legally required to and, importantly, obstructing efforts to retrieve them.
The superseding indictment drives home how much this trial will be about the alleged coverup.
The most vivid new scene in the indictment adds to what would seem to be a wealth of evidence of alleged obstruction of justice.

Axios:

Biden to run against MAGA in 2024, not just Trump
President Biden's team is expanding his re-election strategy beyond Donald Trump to target the MAGA movement and its impact on U.S. politics, figuring it will endure even if Trump isn't the GOP nominee, Axios has learned.
Why it matters: The move aims to cast Trumpism as a far-right authoritarian force — and stems partly from Democrats' polling that suggests the term "MAGA" is viewed more negatively than "Trump Republicans."

• Biden's team believes Trumpism will continue to permeate through the GOP at least through 2024, regardless of who emerges as the party's presidential choice.
• Trump has a big lead in GOP polls, but it's unclear how his growing legal troubles will weigh on his campaign.

The big picture: By attacking the "Make America Great Again" movement that some Americans see as particularly coarse and divisive, Biden's team will seek to paint many Republicans across the ballot as MAGA candidates.