For many years, but especially the last three, conservatives have warned of the dangers of a criminal justice system that is too reluctant to jail and hold dangerous people. The law is the law. Violations of it must be prosecuted. We are, and must remain, the land of equal justice, not the social justice dictated by the ideological fixations of angry Americans.
These same conservatives should try to be consistent when it comes to the federal impeachment of Donald Trump.
It is impressive to read the opinion of the grand jury. 37 count indictment, with its portrayals of a former president who treats the law with the contemptuous disdain of a mob boss, but without the concern of a professor to cover his tracks. It is even more amazing to hear what some of the members of the legal community who have been supporters of Trump have to say about it.
Alan Dershowitz: “It’s the kind of evidence that every defense attorney fears and every prosecutor dreams of” the retired Harvard law professor wrote of Trump’s recorded admission to illegally possessing highly classified documents.
Jonathan Turley: “Some of the evidence comes from his former lawyer, and these are very damaging statements made against him,” the Fox News legal analyst said, referring to notes made by one of Trump’s lawyers, in which the former president conspires to obstruct a government subpoena. “All the government has to do is pin the landing on one charge, and you could have a terminal sentence.”
Bill Barr: “It’s a very detailed indictment, and it’s very, very damning,” former Trump attorney general he told “Fox News Sunday.” As for the suggestion that Trump is the victim of a witch hunt, Barr noted that the Justice Department had “been very patient” in trying to obtain documents from Trump, only to be met with “very egregious obstruction.”
Barr added that Trump held onto and possibly shared vital national secrets, including reportedly Pentagon planning documents for an attack on Iran, in a way that “anyone who really cares about national security, has their heads turned.” stomach”.
None of this will sway Trump’s base because nothing will sway them. Never mind that they were the most outraged in 2016 over Hillary Clinton’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. Or the most disgusted by the conclusion of the then FBI director, James Comey, that “no reasonable prosecutor” would press charges against her. Or the more vigorously encouraged “Lock her up” at that summer’s Republican convention.
But what about more traditional conservatives who know that the 2020 election was not stolen, that January 6th was a disgrace to history, that Trump is a lucky serial loser whose bottomless narcissism continues to cost Republicans winning the Senate and gubernatorial races, that his entire presidency was a drunken joyride with a speeding reckless driver, that his renomination as the Republican nominee would give President Biden his best chance at re-election, and that another presidency of Trump would be an orgy of petty retribution politics and reckless policymaking that would make his first term seem, by comparison, responsible and tame?
They are, with few exceptions, supine.
His excuses for Trump have run the gamut. There were legally inaccurate claims about the Presidential Records Actwhat are you doing No give Trump as much time as he wants to return the documents to the United States archivist. There was an idea that Trump held on to the documents because he was a hoarder or that he had little idea what they contained or that the secrets they contained were not serious. The prosecution charges strongly indicate otherwise.
There’s also the whataboutism regarding Clinton’s emails and documents found in Biden’s offices and garage. But people who argue that Comey’s recommendation was a travesty of justice cannot now argue that Trump should be acquitted of far more serious charges. As for Biden, his case has his own special counsel: that he reach his conclusions based on the facts.
Which leaves the argument that our democracy will be severely damaged if the administration of a sitting president sets the precedent of criminally prosecuting a political opponent. That is essentially what Trump threatened to do against Clinton. That’s exactly what he tried to do against Biden by trying to unearth Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine, the subject of Trump’s first impeachment trial. I don’t recall many conservatives taking a bold stand against such an attempt to use the formidable powers of the presidency to criminalize an opponent.
It remains true that the federal prosecution of Trump, along with his possible conviction and imprisonment, will be a fateful moment in American history. Much more fateful would have been the lack of prosecution. If Trump can be above the law, in a case like this, then we will have lost the rule of law.
As for broader considerations of justice, both legal and cosmic, the English language is well stocked with phrases for occasions like this.
Turnabout is fair game.
Hoist with your own firecracker.
How about sauce for the goose….
lock him up
