Former President Donald Trump returns to Washington, D.C., on Thursday, albeit not in the triumphant way he envisions — at least not yet. Trump is scheduled to appear at 4 p.m. ET at a federal courthouse just blocks from the Capitol, where he faces four felony charges related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, including his role in the Jan. 6 riot.

While Trump’s legal team on Wednesday night didn’t indicate if Trump would hold a press conference following his emergence from the courthouse, they also wouldn’t rule it out, which suggests the former president would make the determination, perhaps while in court, depending on how the proceedings go, or whether he has anything else to say about his third indictment, two of which are federal — with today’s indictment on the 2020 election charges; the first one on the withholding classified documents.

Trump’s legal spokeswoman, New Jersey attorney Alina Habba, not only believes the Justice Department will have a hard time proving its case against the former president; she suggested a silver lining exists around what appears to be a very dark cloud hanging over Donald Trump.

The thing that makes this case the most weak is: How are you going to prove what he actually believed?

These cases are tough to prove on a good day, but they [the DOJ prosecutors] also forget that they’ve exposed themselves. When you bring a lawsuit, you now open the door to subpoenas. You now open the door to us being able to ask you questions about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, for us being able to look at things like that.”

So, you know, it’s a dangerous proposition, and I’m not sure it was well-thought-through, to be honest.

Habba makes a good point with respect to further opening the door to more scrutiny of the 2020 election.

I’ve said the same thing from the beginning in response to claims and counterclaims from both sides of the 2020 election issue. Sans substantive and quantifiable evidence to make one case or the other, what either side claims as factual becomes little more than opinion. And faced with the fact that the prosecution — not the defense — has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, more pressure rests on Special Counsel Jack Smith‘s Team in this case than on the Trump legal team.

It will also be interesting to see whether any Republican members of Congress will show up to support Trump. I’m unaware of an organized effort to do so, but GOP Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz come to mind as good bets, if so.

With security preparations well underway on Wednesday, Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger said in a press conference that a “security plan is in place,” but the chief refused to go into detail.

We’re prepared for whatever might happen. [Law enforcement agencies have] been working together in preparation for whatever. We’ve been talking about this for a couple of weeks now, [and]we’ve had a couple [of] phone calls today.

Again, Manger wouldn’t elaborate, including on the nature of the “couple of phone calls.”

As Trump’s legal problems continue to compound, he did get a pyrrhic victory of sorts this week.

As we reported on Tuesday, a Pennsylvania state judge ruled on Monday that then-President Trump was protected by presidential immunity while in office for claims he made that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged” and “stolen.”

Specifically, Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Erdos said a 2020 election worker couldn’t sue the former president over a tweet he posted and comments he made from the White House, but noted that Trump was and remains at risk for specific charges he made after he left office.

Anyway, buckle up, sports fans. Thursday’s festivities in a D.C. courthouse and the spin that follows — on both sides — will surely make for another interesting day.