In a way, it was breathtaking: the first-ever Justice Department indictment against a former president, and therefore the most significant federal indictment in U.S. history.

In another it was expected. After Donald Trump received a formal target letter from the department, his fate was effectively sealed.

But that was just the latest in a string of recent signs that charges were inevitable. The months and years of questions about whether the Biden administration should indict the 45th and future president and whether the department would hold its hand for politics, the good of the republic or some other reason were settled when Atty. General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as special counsel.

From then on, the investigation into the former president’s retention of classified documents followed the tried and tested path the federal government would take for any defendant charged with conduct over the past two years that came close to being as brutal as Trump’s. Smith pursued the case as he would any other, which inevitably led to today’s indictment.

Almost as inevitably, it will also lead the department to urge a court to impose a significant prison sentence on the former president if convicted. Trump’s last chance to negotiate less serious charges came and went Monday during his lawyers’ final meeting with Justice Department officials. Now he is in the unenviable position of any other defendant charged with serious crimes.

The move of the unprecedented case from Washington, DC, to Florida was less expected, but is likely to make the case much stronger. Although it sounds like a procedural detail, a defendant has a constitutionally guaranteed right to be tried if a crime is alleged to have been committed. So a location error can result in consequences as serious as throwing out a case with no possibility of retrial.

So the department made the strategic call to continue the case in Florida’s Southern District, which includes Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate and the site of his alleged illegal record keeping. other

although

We

only

learned

only

this week of much of the activity there, it looks like a grand jury has been sitting in Florida for several weeks. That’s more than long enough to absorb previous testimony in the case, which the department could provide by briefing jurors on what happened in the capital.

The location also has the effect of underlining the most damning aspect of the case for Trump. Are

conscious

accepting White House documents was almost certainly criminal; his brutal and typically Trumpian refusal to return them, even to the point of lying to the government and implicating others in the concealment, was worse.

According to the New York Times, the reported seven-count indictment includes allegations of conspiracy to obstruct justice, meaning the department will argue that Trump did not act alone. The identity of one or more co-conspirators is one of the most important details we can learn when the indictment is unsealed.

It also apparently includes an unexpected witness tampering allegation, which may have involved Trump’s loyal valet Walt Nauta, who allegedly lied to FBI agents about the presence of sensitive documents, only to confess during subsequent interrogation. He may turn out to be a cooperating witness.

Another critical point is that the department reportedly included the almost astonishingly serious charge of violating the espionage law, compounding the seriousness of the case and the sense of national betrayal.

The location raises the risk that a staunchly pro-Trump juror will simply refuse to convict him on any grounds. But the court system has already delivered another indictment against the ex-president in New York and an unfavorable civil verdict in the E. Jean Carroll case.

Now that the issue of venue has settled down, and the Florida District Courts are known for being fairly fast-paced, a trial is more likely to happen. It is even possible that Trump will be convicted by a federal jury before the 2024 election, for which he remains the overwhelming majority.

favored

front-runner for the Republican nomination, though his appeal would likely go through.

The Ministry of Justice has

necessary

toughness and dedication to make history in undertaking this prosecution of a former president. And while Smith is still investigating Trump’s even more outrageous misconduct on and before January 6, 2021,

this

first such persecution may not be the last.

Meanwhile, starting next week, Smith’s delegates will take their seats at the jury box table and announce their appearance on behalf of the people of the United States vs. Trump. Whatever else happens in the coming months, it is a proud moment and a great achievement for the rule of law in this country.

Harry Litman is the host of the

Talking Feds podcast

.

@harrylitman