It’s Hard to Get Excited About Trump’s First Criminal Trial

Rick Hasen: “In watching some of the breathless coverage of Donald Trump’s ‘hush money’ trial, I’m reminded of the 2004 quote from former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld that, ‘You go to war with the Army you have, not the Army you might want.'”

“People want the hush money case to be the big case that can take down Trump because it may be the only one that goes to trial before the election…”

“I have a hard time even mustering a ‘meh.’ Trump may not be convicted of a felony in the case, and if he is, there’s a reasonable chance of an eventual reversal on appeal. Besides, the charges are so minor I don’t expect they will shake up the presidential race. They may actually make that situation worse.”