Let the Trial Commence
6/15/23
The Trump indictment has taken up way too much oxygen in recent days. Not that it wasn’t (isn’t) important or newsworthy. It’s just that until we get to a trial, it’s all prologue. It’s not at all clear that any resolution of these charges or any others will come in advance of the election; and if not completed by the election, Trump might still be able to evade accountability if a Republican regains the White House after the next election. Under a Republican administration, all of Trump’s troubles — at least in connection with federal courts — could disappear.
But back to the most recent indictment… By now, I expect anyone reading this appreciates that the indictment details damning evidence of Trump’s committing criminal acts. This presentation notwithstanding, with few exceptions, the Republican leadership continues to spout the same “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” defense of Trump. What’s even more disturbing is that many Trump supporters who either acknowledge that he has broken the law or that there’s ample reason to believe that he may have feel no obligation to hold him accountable.
Admittedly, some Republican talking heads have belatedly recognized that the allegations detailed in the latest indictment are, in fact, serious and troubling (duh!). Not so much, however, that these Trump sycophants are ready to endorse proceeding with a trial. The prospect of Trump having compromised our national security or having put lives at risk — to say nothing about lying to federal agents and obstructing their efforts to retrieve the documents he was holding onto — doesn’t seem to enter their calculus as to whether Trump should be held accountable for criminal acts let alone his fitness as a potential president. For them, the overriding issue is their sense that Trump is somehow being treated unfairly — a sense that doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
Clinton was subject to an intensive and extensive investigation by the FBI, finding “no deliberate mishandling,” of government documents. Clinton wasn’t indicted because the Justice department reasonably concluded that conviction was unlikely and therefore not worth the time, effort, and expense — essentially the same standard with which any and every indictment is evaluated. Biden’s and Pence’s cases were more like Trump’s in that all involved unlawful retention of government documents. Biden and Pence avoided prosecution by cooperating with the authorities and expeditiously returning the documents in question. Trump could have affected that same outcome had he chosen to follow their examples — but he didn’t.
Blaming the Justice Department for the predicament that Trump has created by himself for himself is a gross misrepresentation of history. The related notion that the Justice Department has been weaponized against Republicans is equally nonsensical. Both of Trump’s political adversaries (Clinton and Biden) have been or currently are subjects to the scrutiny of Justice Department investigations. Trump is the only one who’s been indicted — by my thinking, deservedly so.
I’m eager to see justice served, and the sooner the better. I understand the importance of the presumption of innocence, but in the case of the indictment in Miami relating to the retention of documents, Trump’s own words make that presumption… preposterous. Obviously, he’s entitled to due process; and if he gets off, he gets off. What he’s not entitled to, however, is a free pass that effectively places him above the law. In another time, that principle would have been heartily embraced across party lines. No longer. And that transformation, too, is just another of the transgressions that Trump is responsible for.
My hope for this trial — and any other trial that may be coming down the pike — is that it may allow us to move closer to a point when we as Americans can move to having a common view as to our history, as opposed to red and blue versions. If only…
Have feedback? Send me an email at igkawaller@gmail.com.
