True Lies

 ("Why a Ruling Trump 'Likely' Broke Laws May Not Mean He Will Be Prosecuted")

The problem is that Mr. Trump resides in a fictional world of his own making. Proving his state of mind is as elusive a task as trying to catch the wind in your hands.

Donald Trump starts with the answers and then creates the facts to fit his needs. So if he wants Covid to pose a minimal short term risk, he advises it will disappear like a miracle one day. Or it can be cured by pouring the equivalent of battery acid into your body. He could also speak with seeming conviction of loving dictators and autocrats who loved him back with equal fervor.

Did he hold true any of these lies or the million others he told throughout his presidency, throughout his entire life? Only he knows for certain. 

And that is exactly the problem when one is tasked with proving mens rea, a state of mind of criminal intent, beyond a reasonable doubt.

Did Donald Trump actually consider as valid the legal opinion that Mike Pence could be stopped in his tracks from certifying the election? We know that is what he wanted, and for him there might be little space between desire and belief.  Mr. Trump's seeming willingness to allow his mind to go where a person of reason would not, could ultimately provide him with sufficient cover from criminal prosecution.

His deficiencies may prove to be his greatest ally in this arena. Only in the world of Donald Trump could make believe provide a viable legal defense.