Officials have said that Trump will be fingerprinted and processed, but just like his federal arraignment in Miami, there will be no mugshot taken.
Garrett Haake reported on MSNBC:
We will see much of the former president’s journey to and from D.C. He’s traveling with reporters and the campaign has learned it’s pretty good for their online fund-raising when people are watching what’s going on with his arraignments. There’s nearly $4 million in the first one. We’ll see quite a bit of the process surrounding his arrival and departure to the courthouse. Once he’s inside, we’ll be privy to frustratingly little in this courthouse. Cameras are not allowed inside federal court.
We expect the former president to be processed before his arraignment. He’ll be fingerprinted but no mugshot taken, the same procedure followed in Miami, and then he’ll appear for this arraignment hearing, which should be short. He’s liable to give his not guilty plea. It’s not clear whether the defense team will make any other motions or the prosecution team could make any motions. If they don’t, it could be a fairly short process. We expect we’ll hear from the president. He’s made his legal problems such a key part of his political apparatus, coming in and out for a quick courthouse appearance today seems likely unlikely.
The problem for Trump is that his arraignment day fundraising has dropped by half from his first arraignment to his second. The fact that Trump won’t have his mugshot taken is evidence of more special treatment for a former president. What other federal detainee would get to have an existing picture used instead of a mugshot?
Granted, Trump’s flight risk is close to zero. Unless he wants to stop running for president and seek asylum in North Korea, he is not going anywhere, so the Feds won’t need a mugshot to track him down.
Trump will try to turn his arraignment into a political show, but there are signs that the diminishing returns have set in.
For those who want to see a Trump mugshot, you’ll have to wait until he is indicted in Georgia.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
