Projecting in the Rain

And the latest on the Trump trial schedule

Good evening:

Projecting in the rain. I’m projecting in the rain. What a glorious feeling! I’m happy again.

It was wet. Very wet. And the Capitol Police really don’t like projections on Capitol complex buildings. It took about five minutes before they ordered me to take down this projection on the Madison Building of the Library of Congress Wednesday evening:

benjaminwittes

A post shared by @benjaminwittes

But they were extremely polite and helpful in explaining to me to the precise scope and contours of their jurisdiction and the rules with respect to projections. To wit, they will enforce (and enforce means arrest) for projections on Capitol complex buildings and their jurisdiction extends only down to Third Street on the Mall. This means, as I already suspected, that the Smithsonian buildings, many of which have big beautiful walls with no windows, are outside of Capitol Police jurisdiction. So is the Washington Monument. And I have never had trouble with the National Park Service Police, who have jurisdictions over the Mall and those big beautiful walls.

So I wandered down to the National Air and Space Museum and projected there:

benjaminwittes

A post shared by @benjaminwittes

Then the rain got out of control:

benjaminwittes

A post shared by @benjaminwittes

I was laughing at clouds and all that, but the fear of equipment damage made me pack up and head home.

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Today’s #BeastOfTheDay is Buddy the gator, nominated by

NatSecJD

, who reports that Buddy is eight feet long and likes to climb out of his canal and sunbathe on the road—where he is the terror of local pet-owners:

Buddy

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Trump Trial Diary, March 2, 2024

It was just as I was heading out to project in the rain that the Supreme Court granted certiorari in the Trump immunity case, thus casting into serious doubt the entire year’s schedule for Trump trials.

In the days that have followed, Judge Aileen Cannon has heard arguments on when she should hold a trial in the Mar-a-Lago case, but she’s not made any determination on the subject. And Judge Scott McAfee in Fulton County held arguments on the defense motion to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis—but also made no ruling on the subject.

So here’s what we know, and what the variables are, as we think about the Trump trial schedule in relation to the electoral cycle: