I still don't believe Stormy Daniels' story (not that Trump is a saint, but he is a germaphobe and would have avoided her), but Merchan let her testify at length to make the public believe there was an affair--which Biden took advantage of in the debate.
If they do send Trump to prison and he's killed there a la Epstein, it's hard to say what the public reaction would be, but the Democrats may not have thought that through. They may think a show of force and rounding up a few thousand "insurrectionists" will make everyone else shut up.
I don’t think we will be shutting up. It’s silly to think saner minds will prevail when you are talking about leftists. There are no saner minds to prevail. My hope is that some of the Republicans are growing gonads and will step up to the plate. I can’t imagine the reaction if they try to put Trump in prison.