The fourth indictment of former US president Donald Trump may have given rise to the ridiculous phenomenon, or at least media conceit, of "indictment fatigue", but it adds invaluable new factors to the effort to hold him accountable for his failed effort to remain in power despite losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden.
The Fulton County district attorney, Fani Willis, has taken the opposite tack to that of federal prosecutor Jack Smith who indicted Mr Trump alone on four very limited charges, disconnected from the violence of the January 6 assault on Congress. Instead, Ms Willis has issued a sweeping, even sprawling, racketeering indictment – a total of 41 criminal counts in connection against 18 defendants, including Mr Trump – for a range of interconnected crimes designed to invalidate the election in Georgia, which was won by Mr Biden.
That means that Ms Willis's state-level case is bound to take much longer than Mr Smith's federal prosecution, and there is almost no chance her trial will begin before the 2024 election. But that's where things start to get really interesting. If Mr Trump is re-elected, he could try to pardon himself, or simply order the Justice Department to abandon the prosecution.
There could be complications with both approaches, but a sitting president can surely eventually quash a federal indictment against himself. The same is true if another Republican wins, and pardons Mr Trump or orders the prosecution abandoned.
That would be the end of Mr Smith's efforts to hold Mr Trump accountable. But Ms Willis would still be unencumbered in pursuing the same essential set of facts as applied to Georgia. Under the federal system, there is nothing Mr Trump or any other president can do to stop, or seriously interfere with, a state-level prosecution.
Moreover, no president can issue a pardon pursuant to state-level crimes, and even a Republican governor in Georgia would not be able to issue a pardon until five years after the sentence is served. The only real hope Mr Trump will have if Ms Willis is successful in the long run is for some extraordinary intervention to save him by the Supreme Court inventing novel constitutional claims, probably about federalism, or that a jury in Atlanta acquits him.
There is nothing to stop Mr Trump from running for and even winning the presidency despite these federal and state prosecutions, or from serving if he wins. So the US could be treated to the spectacle of a serving US president being criminally tried in a court in Georgia for seeking to stay in power despite the constitutional system he has twice vowed to "defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic".
Moreover, while the federal court system has a solid ban on televising trials, state-level proceedings are routinely televised, so that Ms Willis will be overseeing the next major public inteerrogation into and explication of the failed coup and attempted insurrection since the House select committee wrapped up its work before the 2022 mid-terms. The nation, and much of the world, will undoubtedly be riveted by the spectacle, particularly if Mr Trump is in the White House while on trial in Fulton County, Georgia.
The latest polls indicate that Mr Trump remains solidly the front runner in the Republican primaries, including in the first-in-the-nation voting in the Iowa caucuses, where he apparently holds a commanding lead. Yet his reputation with the general public, and especially the crucial swing voters in a few toss-up states that will decide the outcome of the 2024 election, continues to take a severe beating.
He is refusing to take part in the first Republican debate this week, and attempting to seize the limelight with simultaneous counter-programming through a taped interview with the ousted former Fox News anchor and white nationalist rabble-rouser Tucker Carlson. This risks allowing other candidates to potentially upstage him on that night, and possibly unsettling his position as front runner. More importantly, perhaps, it gives Mr Biden an obvious rationale to decline to debate Mr Trump should they end up in what looks like an extremely likely rematch.
Mr Trump seems to understand the danger that the two prosecutions over his failed coup attempt pose for him, even if the rest of the Republican field now looks pathetically weak.
Between Mr Smith and Ms Willis, he is squeezed between a pair of legal perils that complement and reinforce each other. If Mr Smith has been too narrow, Ms Willis has been expansive. If Ms Willis's case is too complex and lengthy, Mr Smith's may be quick and simple. If a Republican victory in 2024, even by someone other than him, can save him from Mr Smith, Ms Willis is still there with a parallel prosecution on the same essential facts to which that victory provides no answer.
Everywhere he looks, he appears checkmated – unless he can convince jurors that he did not do, or at least intend to do, what every known piece of evidence suggests he manifestly did intend to do, which is to effectively end the US constitutional system to maintain his own personal political power.
Intellectuals and jurists, including many highly respected conservatives, are buzzing about a bombshell legal paper that persuasively argues that because Mr Trump indisputably sought to destroy the US constitutional system, he is by definition ineligible for the presidency. The authors of the study, William Baude and Michael Stokes Paulson, argue powerfully that this prohibition requires no further judicial or political action because it is "self-enforcing".
Yet, actually enforcing such a prohibition would, in fact, require additional judicial and political action, even if the prohibition is theoretically self-enforcing. It would practically have to be enforced at least by the Supreme Court and, if Mr Trump were president and lost such a case, possibly by the armed forces – or at least part of them that sides with the law.
The bottom line is the grim reality that the only real way to defeat Mr Trump is at the ballot box. If his Republican opponents can't do it, it's going to be up to Mr Biden. He's demonstrated his ability to do so before, and there is every reason to think that he is going to be able to do it again. If not, the US may have to brace itself for the spectacle of not only a former president being repeatedly indicted, but a sitting president on trial in Fulton County, Georgia.
UAE v Gibraltar
What: International friendly
When: 7pm kick off
Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
Admission: Free
Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page
UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
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DSC Eagles 23 Dubai Hurricanes 36
Eagles
Tries: Bright, O’Driscoll
Cons: Carey 2
Pens: Carey 3
Hurricanes
Tries: Knight 2, Lewis, Finck, Powell, Perry
Cons: Powell 3
DUBAI%20BLING%3A%20EPISODE%201
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
Match info
Uefa Nations League Group B:
England v Spain, Saturday, 11.45pm (UAE)
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Kerala Knights 103-7 (10 ov)
Parnell 59 not out; Tambe 5-15
Sindhis 104-1 (7.4 ov)
Watson 50 not out, Devcich 49
Ready Player One
Dir: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Mark Rylance
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
RESULTS
5pm: Rated Conditions (PA) Dh85,000 (Turf) 1,600m
Winner: AF Mouthirah, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer)
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: AF Alajaj, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Hawafez, Connor Beasley, Abubakar Daud
6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Tair, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 2,200m
Winner: Wakeel W’Rsan, Richard Mullen, Jaci Wickham
7.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m
Winner: Son Of Normandy, Fernando Jara, Ahmad bin Harmash
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
Company profile
Name: Back to Games and Boardgame Space
Started: Back to Games (2015); Boardgame Space (Mark Azzam became co-founder in 2017)
Founder: Back to Games (Mr Azzam); Boardgame Space (Mr Azzam and Feras Al Bastaki)
Based: Dubai and Abu Dhabi
Industry: Back to Games (retail); Boardgame Space (wholesale and distribution)
Funding: Back to Games: self-funded by Mr Azzam with Dh1.3 million; Mr Azzam invested Dh250,000 in Boardgame Space
Growth: Back to Games: from 300 products in 2015 to 7,000 in 2019; Boardgame Space: from 34 games in 2017 to 3,500 in 2019
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
LEAGUE CUP QUARTER-FINAL DRAW
Stoke City v Tottenham
Brentford v Newcastle United
Arsenal v Manchester City
Everton v Manchester United
All ties are to be played the week commencing December 21.
Brief scores:
Toss: South Africa, chose to field
Pakistan: 177 & 294
South Africa: 431 & 43-1
Man of the Match: Faf du Plessis (South Africa)
Series: South Africa lead three-match series 2-0
Zayed Sustainability Prize
MIDWAY
Produced: Lionsgate Films, Shanghai Ryui Entertainment, Street Light Entertainment
Directed: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Ed Skrein, Woody Harrelson, Dennis Quaid, Aaron Eckhart, Luke Evans, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Darren Criss
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
The biog
Born: Kuwait in 1986
Family: She is the youngest of seven siblings
Time in the UAE: 10 years
Hobbies: audiobooks and fitness: she works out every day, enjoying kickboxing and basketball
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
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