Smith obviously doesn't care about the law. He feels he can get a conviction in DC no matter what.

2023 9-0 USSC decision states fraud against Government must include tangible money or property and 2012 6-3 decision that states it is unconstitutional to criminalize lies made by politicians.

I think we need to circle back around to why Smith decided to bring a case against Trump so riddled with legal problems?

I am of the opinion that Smith probably believed that the classified document case was a slam dunk and that he would have no problem securing a conviction, even in the state of Florida. But after the charges came out, general polling on the subject was fairly split and in most polls a majority (or at least a plurality) believed he shouldn't have been charged based on the evidence that has been provided.

Smith had been no doubt overconfident of his case as he likely lives in a bubble and saw nothing but support from those around him. Even most of the political and legal analysts seemed on his side. So the polling and reaction from the general public must of shocked him. Smith now probably figures it will be impossible to get a Florida jury without at least a handful of heavy Trump supporters and that convicting him of anything will be a crapshoot. How humiliating would it be for him to go to the unprecedented steps of indicting and charging his Party's main political opponent and come away empty?

So he made a quick pivot over to the legally ridiculous Jan 6th charges because he now figures he will have a better chance to convict him with a DC jury on stupid charges than he does of convicting him of the more tangible classified document case in Florida. He will bank on a Trump hostile judge. Check. He has one. He will no doubt secure a Trump hostile jury. Once those two things are in place, he doesn't even need to present a case. Just stand up and ask the jury to put the bad orange man behind bars as a matter of principle, and they will likely comply.

In a real court, with a real judge, the USSC decision from 3 months ago would make throwing out the fraud charge a no-brainer. They literally just ruled on the exact charge Smith is bringing and stated plainly that fraud can not be charged unless there is tangible financial fraud (which Smith is not even claiming). He is literally thumbing his nose at the USSC and expecting the Judge and jury will do the same. No doubt he is correct.

The remaining charges also rely almost exclusively on the idea that Trump made statements that are criminal. Most analysts suggest that this will be about state of mind. That Smith needs to prove the idea that Trump knew they were false and therefor lied. But if it is unconstitutional according to the USSC to charge a politician with a crime because they may have lied, how does Smith get around that? I suggested the other day that this is simply red herring or even a straw man. There is no exception to the first amendment based on the accuracy of said claims. You are free to claim the earth is flat or that the sun revolves around the earth. It is protected speech. Again, a real judge would be obligated to toss the other three charges based on that ruling alone.

Fortunately for Trump, even if convicted his success on appeal is literally guaranteed. No conviction of these charges will ever stand. But unfortunately I don't believe that Smith or the Democrats care if the charges hold up. They just want to see the conviction so they can say he was convicted. They want it even knowing it would be overturned. This is why Smith is not pushing that hard for a trial in Florida anymore, but rather is now pushing for a trial in DC. The Trump team is demanding that the Jan 6th trial will go on for months and that they will need way more time to prepare. I am sure if given the choice, they would much rather face the Florida classified documents case than the DC case if they have to be prioritized as to which happens pre-election. An acquittal or even a hung jury would damage the lefts attacks on Trump more than we can possibly imagine.

But here we are. Literally talking about a former President and leading Presidential contender in the next election being charged with crimes by his political opponent for issues that the USSC has clearly ruled are not crimes that can be charged. Moreover, they plan to bring these charges in DC, where they know other people loyal to the Regime will support them, even if it means thumbing their noses at the constitution, the law, and the USSC.