Awww, that's aborbable.
Inside the D.C. jail, defendants being held in Jan. 6-related cases say they are trading legal theories on how Trump’s case could affect their own — and joking about which empty cell could house the 45th president of the United States. Some of those charged in the Capitol attack say they think the newest, highest-profile member of their ranks bolsters the argument that they are “political prisoners,” and they hope his case might offer them some legal help, too.
[Shane Jenkin, found guilty of several charges:] “We definitely talk about Donald Trump. I don’t think they’ll ever put him in jail, per se. And if they do, I hope they would bring him here. We would have a good time, and it would be awesome to get to meet Donald Trump.”
Extremism analysts say characterizing Trump and the Jan. 6 defendants as political prisoners is wrong and could have dangerous consequences.
“Claims that insurrectionists are political prisoners is a way of deflecting accountability, of building political support,” said Lindsay Schubiner, the director of programs at the
Western States Center, a Portland, Ore.-based civil rights nonprofit organization that monitors extremism and anti-democracy movements. “And maybe most importantly, a way of normalizing violence against American institutions and our democracy itself.”
“The issue of [obstruction] is hanging by a thread,” said defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor Gene Rossi, “given the composition of the Supreme Court, and he appointed three of the justices.” [spoken like a mob lawyer -- 'The Boss, he has three judges onna payroll, you ain't got nuttin' to fear.]
Trump almost certainly would not win a motion to dismiss his obstruction charges in front of
U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, who is hearing his case. That is because the appeals court’s ruling is binding precedent in D.C.— unless there is a Supreme Court reversal, Rossi said. So, fellow Jan. 6 defendants should not expect legal help to emerge directly from Trump’s case.