Hot and getting hotter this near-noon Tuesday here in California’s Central Valley — in the midst of a short but sturdy heated spell with our high forecast today to be 105 degrees, all triple digits through the weekend.
Summer continues.

And on a continued roll, too, is the law and T-Rump. The InterWebs this morning are hugely awash with last night’s news on the RICO indictment in Georgia of the Orange Turd and 18 others, including his last chief of staff Mark Meadows, along with assorted lawyer crooks long associated with the ‘“criminal enterprise”‘ to overturn the 2020 election.

One could choose any number of online sites for deep-seated, every-angle info on the proceedings, what’s next, and how the T-Rump will fare, but as far as a quick snap:

They lied that Trump won when he lost.

They kept lying even when it was confirmed that there was no fraud.

They breached voting systems so they could try to change the results.

They pressured officials to change the election results so Trump could be declared the winner.

— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) August 15, 2023

Depressing, sad but true in the face of the joy and happiness in possible T-Rump jail time — NBC News legal analyst Danny Cevallos (h/t Steve M):

It seems impossible that this case could go to trial sometime next year, in 2024. It actually seems impossible that it could go to trial in 2026. [I think he means 2025.] I’m not being glib here. When you look at the fact that the other current high-profile racketeering case that is pending in the same county has been in jury selection for eight months — and if the name of the trial isn’t at the tip of your tongue, then that’s evidence that as high-profile as that trial is and they can’t seat a jury, this trial is a hundred times as high-profile. And keep in mind also that there are many co-defendants. Each one of those co-defendants is charged with different crimes, and each one of those defendants is going to be filing motions to sever, motions to continue, motions to dismiss. All of these need to be decided. There’s simply no way that this case could go to trial in the next two years, Hallie. I don’t see it happening. And that again is part of life practicing in state courts. Things just take longer there. Usually inures to the benefit of the defense as well.

Yet no one knows the future for real. Full exposure, and the shitfaced response:

Maybe in two weeks? https://t.co/L0hwPCvDkv

— Molly Jong-fast (@MollyJongFast) August 15, 2023

An example of the real asshole people criminally involved (The Washington Post): ‘Stephen Cliffgard Lee, one of the 18 allies and supporters of Donald Trump to be charged, is a suburban Chicago pastor. He was captured on police body-camera video when officers responded to a December 2020 911 call at the home of Ruby Freeman, one of the Fulton County election workers accused by Trump and Rudy Giuliani of counting “suitcases” of illegal ballots at a vote-processing site in Atlanta. Freeman called 911 after Lee repeatedly knocked on her door.‘

Last month, Giuliani admitted he was bullshitting about Ruby Freeman in an attempt ‘“to cut his losses here”‘ in a swelling, lying stack of lies about trying to overturn the election. Rudy’s fairly fucked, and I think he knows it.

In the vast array of reports on the Georgia event, this is one of the better ones:

New in PN: Trump's Fulton County indictment, unpacked

"What this indictment lays out is that 19 people who knew they were lying about the election took dozens of affirmative steps to get other people to undertake actions to overturn the election" https://t.co/fbmbT7CULv

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 15, 2023

Lisa Needham, attorney, and journalist, does a deep-dive at Public Notice this morning — well worth a full read.
Highpoints:

According to the indictment, Trump and his co-defendants used at least eight methods to try to undermine the election: (1) Making false statements to members of state legislatures, including Florida, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia; (2) Making false statements to high-ranking state officials in Georgia, such as the secretary of state and the governor; (3) creating a slate of fake electoral voters; (4) harassing and intimidating a Fulton County election worker; (5) soliciting high-ranking members of the United States Department of Justice to make false statements to government officials in Georgia; (6) soliciting Mike Pence to reject electoral college votes properly cast by Georgia’s electors; (7) unlawfully accessing voter equipment and voter data; and (8) making false statements and committing perjury to cover up the conspiracy.

The first public act in furtherance of the conspiracy started the day after the election when Trump gave a speech falsely declaring victory. Trump had discussed a draft speech to that effect three days before the election, in which he planned to declare victory and claim voter fraud. In other words, Trump was already prepared to attempt to overturn the election before election night even happened.

You can expect Trump fans to trot out the same nonsense defenses they’ve done with previous indictments and complain that the indictment criminalizes free speech. Indeed, many overt acts here are speech, such as press conferences and dozens of phone calls to Georgia elected officials. But no one is trying to say Trump, or anyone else in the indictment, can’t make phone calls. No one is saying that Trump, or anyone else in the indictment, can’t complain about the 2020 election. What this indictment lays out is that 19 people who knew they were lying about the election took dozens of affirmative steps to get other people to undertake actions to overturn the election.

As I indicated, go read the whole piece, pretty clear cut and concise — Aaron Rupar’s Public Notice is a must for political news background and details.

Meanwhile, until the next round:

Jury trial time, or not, yet once again here we are…

(Illustration out front: Pablo Picasso’s ‘Agonizing Horse,’ found here.)