Donald Trump will be arraigned in Washington today, but there won’t be a mugshot

During the Biden administration, I can go weeks, even months, without watching the news. I read about what’s happening, of course, but I don’t keep up with the daily punditry or the Republican talking points of the week. It’s peaceful, honestly. But I have been watching MSNBC and CNN a lot this week because of Donald Trump’s latest indictment, the big one for his treasonous actions against the American democracy on January 6, 2021. I’ve been left with a big “????” even when I’m watching liberal commentators. I get that Trump still has a lot of support within the Republican Party, but it’s shocking to see so many people pussyfoot around the fact that Trump was and is a one-man wrecking-ball to America, and that his supporters are cult members and that all of these f–king people need to be in prison forever. Anyway, Trump will be arraigned this afternoon.

Former President Donald J. Trump is expected to appear at 4 p.m. on Thursday in the U.S. federal courthouse at the foot of Capitol Hill, the site of a yearslong government effort to hold accountable those who tried to subvert democracy. Mr. Trump’s appearance before Moxila A. Upadhyaya, a federal magistrate judge, comes about six weeks after his arraignment in Miami on charges of mishandling government documents after he left the White House and seeking to block investigators.

The former president will fly down on his private jet from his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. He is expected to arrive between 3 and 4 p.m., at the E. Barrett Prettyman courthouse, the venue for dozens of trials stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

The U.S. Marshals Service, which is responsible for security inside federal courthouses, will escort him to an area where he will be booked for a third time this year. (He was arraigned in New York in the spring in connection with a hush-money payment to a pornographic actress before the 2016 election.)

The sheriff in Fulton County, Ga., where another potential indictment connected to Mr. Trump’s efforts to undermine the 2020 election looms, has suggested that if Mr. Trump is charged, he will be processed like anybody else, mug shot and all. That will not happen on Thursday: The marshals did not photograph Mr. Trump in Miami, and they will not take his picture in Washington, according to a law enforcement official involved in the planning.

But federal rules dictate that an accused person be reprocessed in each jurisdiction in which he or she faces charges, so Mr. Trump will have to be fingerprinted for a second time using an electronic scanning device. He is also expected to answer a series of intake questions that include personal details, such as his age.

[From The NY Times]

“He is also expected to answer a series of intake questions that include personal details, such as his age.” They should weigh him, delouse him, hose down his toupee and make him enter the court in f–king handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit. Maybe that’s what will happen in Georgia when he’s indicted. Anyway, this no-mugshot, no-frog-marched-in-handcuffs thing is a real bummer. There’s also talk that the Washington trial won’t be televised without the Supreme Court intervening? Jesus.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images, Time Magazine cover.

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24 Responses to “Donald Trump will be arraigned in Washington today, but there won’t be a mugshot”

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  1. JK says:

    No we need that orange mugshot. The whole 9. Process him like you would anyone. I don’t want to even get my hopes up any longer, but please let him live to see prison. To die in one. Lesser criminals have.

    • ML says:

      The reason they say they aren’t getting his mugshot is his base, right? Or is it his people who don’t want it? Have they confiscated his passport—like if it gets really hairy for him, he is definitely a flight risk in possession of a private plane and has some dubious friends.
      Much of my family and all my American friends are liberals, but I have some MAGAt and Never Trump relatives. The former are totally brainwashed and we no longer speak. The latter: some of them have moved more to the center politically and this latest indictment helps.

  2. Laura says:

    I’ll be playing Indictment Bingo.

  3. Jan says:

    In Georgia, I think we may get a mugshot, I heard they make you take off your wig for a mugshot.

    • NJGR says:

      @jan – that would be great.
      Also, the Time mag cover is brilliant.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        Yes, the Time cover is a thing of beauty!! I do hope they force him to be detached from that rats nest upon his head. Drumpf is probably one of the worst causes of climate change with the amount of hairspray he uses. 😳😳

      • Scout says:

        ML, sounds like you view anyone Never Trump as some kind of crazy left radical. I think all liberals are Never Trump. Its just common sense. How could anyone even be a democrat or a liberal and say “Trump is a criminal destroying our democracy, but i’m more center, not some crazy extreme Never Trump person.” NEVER TRUMP is regular common sense, not a crazy philosophy on par with maga brainwashed people. Do you think people should consider voting fot trump? No! Everyone should agree: never trump, never again!

      • ML says:

        Scout, No!—I’ve been using “Never Trumper” to describe Republicans. I’m an American expat living abroad and most of my family and all American friends are Democrats. I’ve been using the Never Trump label to define how I (don’t understand but) understand how people vote for [certain] Republicans. If this is not the right term, sorry for the confusion.
        In my family then, there is a definite difference on how Republicans who can stomach Trump and those who can’t vote. For some this difference is smaller, but NTRepublicans are a bit reachable in terms of sanity. For instance with voting for Biden in 2020 or Warnock in 2022.
        I personally think every Democrat has to do their best to try to vote. And then we need Independents (many of who skew R now) and Rs who can (in some cases) persuaded to vote for democracy.
        I totally agree “never trump, never again!”

    • BeanieBean says:

      Good. I’d like to see what his height really is. I expect he’s been padding that number over the years & I also suspect he’s lost an inch or two.
      And when they fingerprint him, I hope they do it the old-fashioned way, with an ink pad.

      • BothSidesNow says:

        I too hope for the old fingerprint process!! Let his stink and ink be present when he leaves the DC courthouse!

    • ML says:

      It would be both wonderful and horrible to see him without his wig.

  4. CROWHOOD says:

    I actually get more depressed every time he’s indicted because it comes with no repercussions and gives him another fundraising tool.

    • Anita says:

      Yes, everything bounces off him like he’s made of Teflon or something, and every indictment is a huge free publicity boost and his numbers go up even more. It’s amazing and depressing. What the hell is this?

    • SeemaLikely says:

      Try to have hope. As MLK said, and I firmly believe this, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” Even if this is just legal chaos to thwart his political campaign, I’ll take it.

  5. Lizzie says:

    I read the indictment yesterday. Not called a co conspirator but the RNC chairwoman participated in the fake elector scheme. I hope McDaniel is charged for participating in this crime along with all co conspirators at some point.

  6. JillR says:

    We need mug shots, a perp walk, and bail. Without that visual and procedural cues, his followers can still delude themselves that it’s not real, he’s not a criminal, or that it’s just political. This man and his followers aren’t accused of filching a few social security checks from a nice old lady. They tried to take down the entire US government.

  7. ML says:

    I hope there are pictures of him navigating stairs and/or a “scary” ramp on his way in and out of the building.

    • BothSidesNow says:

      I keep replaying that incident when he was in Manhattan before and the Marshall, or other LEO, didn’t hold the door open as Drumpf followed behind him and let the door go! It was a beautiful sight to see him treated as any other Joe-schmo walking out of the courthouse!!

  8. Lizzie Bathory says:

    I seriously doubt the trial will be allowed to be taped. Many federal courts don’t allowing audio recording & the Supreme Court has continued to refuse to allow videotaping of themselves.

    I’m just happy knowing each time he has to interact with the criminal justice system, he’s humiliated. Somehow, the people around him have managed to convince Trump that he has no choice but to turn up for these arraignments. It’s a striking contrast to see him submitting to arrest multiple times versus physically assaulting Secret Service agents in the car on January 6.

    • Lightpurple says:

      There are no cameras or recording devices allowed inside federal courtrooms.

      Reporters and sketch artists are allowed.

      We will get some magnificent drawings

      • BothSidesNow says:

        May it reminisce of his loud, open mouthed with his angry face of defiance and ignorance.

      • Lizzie Bathory says:

        Well there you go. For some reason, I thought there was a weird handful of federal circuit & district courts that sometimes allow recordings under some circumstances? Anyway, bring on the courtroom drawings!

  9. Dorianne says:

    A recurring fantasy of mine is old pumpkin face in a striped prison uniform, with a ball and chain attached to his ankle, swinging a pick-ax on a rock pile in sweltering heat. A girl can dream.

    • tamsin says:

      I think the most one can hope for is a conviction and seeing Donald playing golf for the rest of his life with an ankle bracelet. Most Americans will have to live with the fact that he was once elected their president, and entitled to security for the rest of his miserable life for which they must all pay.