As the arraignment played out on Thursday, it felt like we had all been there before.
If you didn’t realize former President Donald Trump was indicted for the third time on Tuesday and arraigned on Thursday, I wouldn’t blame you.
Despite making history as the first former US president to ever be charged with a crime, let alone in three different indictments, it’s hard to gauge if Americans registered the magnitude of this particular indictment — or if Trump being in court has just become routine.
Trump was arraigned on Thursday over charges related to efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The charges came after two previous indictments. In March, Trump was indicted on charges of falsifying business records. In June, he was charged over his handling of classified records after leaving the White House. He has pleaded not guilty in all three cases.
When the news broke this week of Trump’s latest indictment, it felt like we’d been here before — even though this time it involved something the public may have been more likely to care about given the deadly riot at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The new charges against Trump are serious, including conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, and could carry a sentence of decades in prison.
The first indictment that took place in Manhattan in April felt like much more of a spectacle — despite the fact that it may be the weakest of the cases brought against Trump. Maybe this was due in part to the NYPD presence, photographers in the courtroom, and a very public entrance and exit from the court.
But compared to his two impeachments and the made-for-TV Capitol riot hearings — all of which accused Trump of serious wrongdoing — the most recent indictment and arraignment felt largely humdrum.
