The federal judge overseeing a criminal case against former President Donald Trump for interfering with the 2020 presidential election has set a trial date of March 4, 2024, brushing aside Trump's arguments for a two-year delay.

So this is where we are.  The 45th President of the United States of America was fingerprinted and had his mug shot taken yesterday.  Just let that sink in for a second.  Just a couple of short years ago this guy was the most powerful person on Earth.  A nuclear arsenal at his fingertips, the most dangerous and sophisticated military in the history of the planet ready and willing to be commannded by him.  All the trappings of the office, the living arrangements, the flights aboard Air Force One, the luxury accomodations all over the world, the wait staff ready to serve you at a moment's notice, and the list goes on.  He has none of that now.  What he does have is 18 co-defendents, at least a few of which will surely flip on him.  

The already logic-shattering 2024 White House race is expected to make an extraordinary detour through an Atlanta jail this week, with Donald Trump due to turn himself in over his fourth indictment – for alleged election meddling in Georgia.

The GOP front-runner is expected to surrender, potentially for fingerprinting and a mug shot, on Thursday or Friday, a senior law enforcement source told CNN. That’ll be just hours after the first GOP debate on Wednesday – normally an early defining moment in any campaign, but one that will be overshadowed by Trump’s decision to skip it and his expected appearance at the Fulton County jail soon after. The potential juxtaposition of Trump’s appearance in Georgia with the first debate will show how every aspect of the political calendar is being entangled in Trump’s legal peril and the unprecedented government effort to try a former president – and potential major party nominee – over his effort to overturn his 2020 defeat.

Just as no other candidate facing nearly 100 criminal charges across four cases could even think about running for president, no other GOP leader could confidently snub a prime-time television debate and turn his no-show into an argument for his inevitability. But Trump – as with his attempt to use criminal indictments to advance a political career that has always prospered amid perceptions that he’s being unfairly treated – is changing all the rules of campaigning once again.