Opinion: Trump indicted in Jan. 6 attack on U.S. Capitol — could he boycott his trial?

Most commentators who have discussed Donald Trump’s pending criminal trials in New York, Florida and – with the former U.S. president indicted by a Washington, D.C., grand jury – in the nation’s capital, have concluded that those trials would require his presence. And that would compromise his ability to campaign vigorously for the Republican nomination and the presidency.

The U.S. Constitution protects defendants’ rights to be present at their criminal trials, prohibiting the government from holding trials against a defendant…