The sky did not fall.
And all would be fine if we permitted cameras in the courtroom.
That way, we could see it for ourselves and not have to rely on print reporting about it. Here’s a pretty good summary:
If you blinked, you missed it.
For a fleeting moment Thursday,
Donald Trump and special counsel Jack Smith — the man who could put him
in prison — appeared to make eye contact as the former president
prepared to fend off charges that he sought to subvert American
democracy itself.
That shared glance crystallized the historic weight of Thursday’s arraignment,
the third in recent months for the former president who is fighting
federal and local prosecutors even as he appears to be coasting to the
2024 GOP presidential nomination.
Smith said nothing audible during his
hour in the room, but repeatedly shot glances at Trump, who
occasionally shot them back until their eyes briefly met.
Even before Donald Trump entered a
federal courtroom and declared himself “not guilty” on four felony
charges related to his effort to derail the transfer of presidential
power, the weight of history was evident in Washington, D.C.’s federal
courthouse.
***
Minutes before Trump entered the pin-drop silent room, several federal
judges — who have been processing the carnage of Jan. 6, 2021 for more
than two years — filed into the public gallery, turning themselves into
spectators in a building they typically rule. Chief Judge James
Boasberg, who presided over several of the secret grand jury battles
that preceded the charges against Trump, was among those marking the
moment.
***
Minutes before Trump entered the pin-drop silent room, several federal
judges — who have been processing the carnage of Jan. 6, 2021 for more
than two years — filed into the public gallery, turning themselves into
spectators in a building they typically rule. Chief Judge James
Boasberg, who presided over several of the secret grand jury battles
that preceded the charges against Trump, was among those marking the
moment.