Trump Heads To Miami: Here's What To Expect At His Court ...

13 Jun 2023

Forbes

Topline

Former President Donald Trump departed New Jersey on Monday afternoon en route to Miami, where he will appear in federal court for the first time to answer to charges of mishandling classified documents—a spectacle that comes days after federal prosecutors indicted him on charges of taking top-secret documents to Mar-A-Lago in a scheme they allege compromised national security.

Former President Donald Trump said he has been summoned to appear in court next week.

Getty Images Key Facts

When will Trump appear in court? Trump has been ordered to appear at a federal courthouse in Miami at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and is expected to surrender himself to authorities beforehand.

Will he be arrested? It is likely Trump will be arrested, booked and taken into custody before he appears before a judge.

Will there be a mugshot? Trump did not have a mugshot taken when he was arrested in New York in April and while common they are not required. Mugshots are generally intended to help recognize someone and officials may consider it pointless given that Trump is one of the most readily recognizable people in the world.

Would we get to see the mugshot? Even if the Department of Justice decided to take a mugshot of Trump, it’s unlikely we would see it unless it’s leaked, as it has a policy of not releasing photographs unless they are already part of the public record.

Will Trump be fingerprinted? Trump was fingerprinted in April and will likely be fingerprinted again in Florida next week as it is standard practice for processing federal criminal defendants.

Will his DNA be profiled? DNA samples are sometimes taken from federal defendants so they can be profiled, as well as added or checked across the government’s DNA databases. It’s not clear whether this will happen or is expected in Trump’s case.

Will Trump be handcuffed? Trump was not handcuffed when he was arrested in New York—he reportedly wanted to make his arrest into a “spectacle”—and given his profile and low security risk he is unlikely to be handcuffed when he appears in court in Florida.

What will happen in court? Once Trump has been processed, he will appear before a judge to hear the charges against him and enter an initial plea of his guilt or innocence. The judge will also set out what happens until the defendant’s trial, for example travel restrictions, restraining orders or bail conditions.

Will Trump be held in jail? It is theoretically possible Trump could be remanded into custody when awaiting trial, but it is highly unlikely a judge would order this. Most people accused of white-collar crimes are not jailed before trial and the former president—imminently recognizable, running for president and followed everywhere by a detail of Secret Service agents—is hardly considered a major flight risk.

Can we watch Trump’s arraignment? Almost certainly not. Federal courts usually have very strict rules on electronic devices, recordings and broadcasting. In some courts, these rules were relaxed during the Covid-19 pandemic, though the remote access policies were temporary and have since lapsed.

What about pictures? It’s unlikely there will be any pictures of Trump appearing in court to be arraigned in Florida either. According to the court’s guidelines, reporters attending must agree to “not record or transmit in any way audio, still photography, or video from anywhere inside courthouses nor from inside courtrooms.” Reporters are also not allowed to “create a verbatim record of any proceeding.”

Will there be any images from Trump’s court appearance? There will probably be a number of courtroom sketches from Trump’s arraignment.

Who will oversee his court appearance? Magistrates often handle initial court hearings, and it’s possible the magistrate who signed off on the FBI’s Mar-A-Lago search warrant, Bruce Reinhart, could fill in for Trump-appointed Judge Aileen Cannon, who was randomly assigned to the case.

Will Trump take a plea deal in the case? Trump told Politico on Saturday he will not take a plea deal unless “they pay me some damages,” and vowed to stay in the race if convicted.

When is the case expected to conclude? The Southern District of Florida is known for speedy trials and has a policy requiring a conviction or trial within 70 days of an indictment, former federal prosecutor Walter Norkin told ABC News—Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith also said his office would advocate for a swift trial.

Where will Trump go after the court appearance? Trump has made plans to fly back to Bedminster, where he will deliver remarks from Trump National Golf Club at 8:15 p.m. Eastern time—a similar course of events following his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court in April, when he flew back to Mar-A-Lago and gave a speech blasting the various law enforcement investigations against him.

Crucial Quote

Trump, announcing his departure from New Jersey Monday, wrote on Truth Social: “Getting ready to head down to Doral in Miami. We must all be STRONG and DEFEAT the Communists, Marxists, and Radical Left Lunatics that are systematically destroying our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

Big Number

61%. That’s the share of likely GOP primary voters who said the indictment does not impact their view of Trump, according to a CBS/YouGov poll of 2,480 adults taken June 7-10 (margin of error 2.7 percent). More than three-fourths of GOP voters said they were more concerned that the indictment was politically motivated, rather than Trump’s conduct being a national security risk, which 12% said was a greater concern.

Tangent

Federal and local security officials in Miami reportedly enhanced precautionary measures ahead of Trump’s court appearance Tuesday, monitoring social media for potential threats of violence and surveying plans for pro-Trump rallies, including one organized by the far-right extremist group, the Proud Boys, the Washington Post reported. Miami police were prohibited from taking Tuesday off, according to the paper, and plainclothes detectives were instructed to arrive to work in uniform.

What To Watch For

The case set out against Trump is unprecedented in many ways, not least because it is the first time a former president is facing federal charges. The judge assigned to the case will determine the course of Trump’s case, including its timeline. This is likely to be a major dispute between parties, with Trump likely wanting to put it well after the 2024 election and the Department of Justice probably pushing for it to be resolved well before Americans take to the polls. Federal judges are assigned randomly to cases. They are also nominated by the president and Trump appointed a prodigious number during his single term in office. This includes judges in Florida—five in the Southern district where the Miami court is—raising the prospect of Trump appearing before a judge he himself had appointed. Cannon is already a controversial figure in the Trump documents case after ruling in favor of Trump to appoint an independent investigator to review documents. Experts roundly criticized the decision as an unprecedented intervention and it was unanimously tossed out on appeal.

News Peg

Trump was indicted by federal prosecutors Thursday in connection with a long-running investigation into his handling of classified documents after leaving office. Trump faces 37 felony counts, including 31 violations of an Espionage Act provision that prohibits willful retention of national defense information (a charge that carries up to 10 years in prison) and six others that carry sentences ranging from five to 20 years in prison, including conspiracy to obstruct justice and false statement charges. Prosecutors allege Trump took a trove of classified documents to Mar-A-Lago after leaving the White House, some of which were labeled top-secret and included defense secrets that threatened national security, if revealed, according to the indictment unsealed Friday. Trump allegedly instructed his aides to transport the documents from Washington to Mar-A-Lago after leaving office and sought to withhold some of the records from federal investigators after they launched an investigation into the matter in March last year. He is also accused of showing records to at least two people who did not have the proper security clearance to view them. The indictment marks Trump’s second since announcing his third run for the White House—he was indicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in April in connection with an alleged hush money scheme. This is the first time a former president has faced federal charges.