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From what I understand if you ask the Congress or the executive branch the Federal Guidelines are hard requirements. But if you ask Federal Judges, they are just suggestions. And since you would need the judges to enforce those guidelines, if they say they are not actual requirements but just suggestions then that is what they are.
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I don’t know what point he was trying to make, but my reaction whenever I see this kind of concern goblining from the NYT, I hear a slimy, wealthy centrist voice in my head whining: “Trust me (fingers crossed behind back) we’re upset as you are, but please stop rocking the boat, my stock holdings have a weak stomach and dramamine makes them sluggish.”
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I’m not so sure this is true. On one of the news programs this morning the expert predicted Trump could drag the case on for a year or more with procedural delays and motions. Not to mention his new lawyers will need security clearances in order to review the evidence so that alone can take months.
All the while he’ll use the headlines to continue to rile up his base and grift money from supporters all the way up to the election.
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CNN ran a story answering questions about different things.
One of the questions was what happens if the case isn’t settled and he gets elected.
The answer was the president can dismiss any federal cases so it goes away.
They didn’t give any source, just some lawyer answering questions.
That doesn’t sound right to me but what do I know.
Let’s hope speedy trial. But if it is speedy and he’s not convicted it’s just another campaign ad.
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I recently served on the Jury for a Federal Case in Chicago for Insider Trading. The trial was in January 2023. The Indictment was January 2022. Things may be different in Florida though.
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The whole thing about the Attorney General being independent from political influence and presidential orders is just a tradition … a “norm” 
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I honestly am starting to hate this brand of speculation. They aren’t just putting the cart before the horse. This particular horse hasn’t even been born yet. They’re filling up air time with useless speculation that doesn’t help anyone. The amount of ifs that would have to come true to end up there is a lot. If the trial is delayed until January 20, 2025, if Trump wins the Republican nomination, if Trump wins the general election… Let’s get through the next few weeks and see where we’re at.
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But. . .
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Sums up nicely. On the one hand, they’re now discretionary. OTOH, judges stick to the Guidelines in the vast majority of cases.
Prior to this SCOTUS ruling in 2005, the Sentencing Guidelines were in fact mandatory:
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The point is, the terms of the arraignment determine his status during trial. If the trial makes it clear he’s going to go to prison, he’s definitely a flight risk. He can run for president more easily from Moscow than from Leavenworth.
There’s also the gag rule aspect. If he is prohibited from talking about the trial publicly, then he loses a major fundraising and campaigning point.
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Not exactly. The AG can, and ostensibly the AG reports to the President. So the AG can refuse and be fired, and the President can appoint a new acting AG who will. But there is peril in that, too. That’s part of what sunk Nixon and enough of the current GOP House might be sick enough of T****’s BS to impeach him for that.
Or I think more probably, it would cause him more problems when he keeps using it anyway.
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Agreed. A gag rule would be equivalent of remanding him to jail pending trial as he violates it again and again, facing escalating penalties.
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I agree that a gag order would make total sense. (The contempt-of-court fines resulting from Trump’s inevitable flouting of the gag order would also contribute significantly towards the reduction of the federal deficit.)
As far as campaigning from Moscow is concerned, the guy lives for his election rallies. Having to hold those in Russia would be way less fun than doing them in red US states, and being sent to a federal pen would obviously put a complete crimp in that sort of activity, but somehow I don’t believe the case will proceed that far before the election.
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