The Wheels of Justice Need Grease
6/22/23
Based on the time between the alleged offences and the issuance of an indictment, the case of the United States versus Donald J. Trump in the federal court in Miami seems to be an anomaly. On a comparative basis, many consider the interval in this instance to have been relatively short. To my mind, it was much lengthier than it should have been.
According to the indictment, in the summer of 2021 the National Archives asked Trump to return missing documents that were believed to be in his possession. Some six months later, 15 boxes containing 197 documents with “classification markings” were sent back from Mar-a-Lago. Five months after that, presumably after further communications, Trump returned an additional 38 classified documents. The highly publicized search of the estate, authorized by a search warrant, happened on August 8, 2022 — more than a year after the Archive’s initial request. The search uncovered an additional 103 classified documents, 31 confidential documents, 54 secret documents, and 18 top secret documents. It’s incomprehensible to me why it should have taken this long to secure these records.
Trump’s noncompliance with the law should have been obvious for all to see after, what? — a month, maybe two, but waiting for a year to follow up on Trump’s intransigence is beyond the pale. Well before the time the Justice Department sought the search warrant, the department knew — or at least had substantial reason to believe — that Trump had violated the law by unlawfully taking and keeping government documents, lying to federal agents, and, in all likelihood, meeting the definition of obstructing justice and also possibly violating the espionage act, as well.
Again, all that was known as of August 2022. Here we are in June of 2023, and the indictment has just come to fruition. I fully appreciate that any effort to bring charges against an individual should require prosecutors to have a high confidence that they would be able to win a conviction, but the timeline for doing so seems to me to be well beyond what should be necessary — or tolerated, for that matter — particularly in a case with such significant national ramifications.
What, exactly, is the problem? What takes so long? Is the Justice Department constrained by having too little in the way of resources? I just don’t get it. Admittedly, the Department faces a host of challenges in bringing this case and others to trial, but a good many of those challenges would seem to relate to the practicalities of trying the case in the courtroom — concerns that aren’t going to be mitigated by extending the time frame prior to the trial (i.e., selecting a jury, dealing with trial motions, etc.).
Formulating charges and gathering the relevant evidence would seem to be processes that can and should be performed within shorter time frames than what we are currently experiencing. Somewhere, somehow, those responsible for seeing that justice is appropriately dispensed need to accelerate the process by which these efforts proceed.
My frustration with the Miami indictment is nothing compared to that which I have for the two other critical cases involving Trump. Starting with the January 6 investigation currently being managed under the authority of Special Counsel Jack Smith, let’s remember that the assault on the Capitol happened January 6, 2021. The Congressional hearings commenced in June, with a final report issued in December of 2021. It was November of 2022 — a full 11 months after the Congressional hearing issued its final report — that Jack Smith was appointed.
Smith is reportedly moving toward the end of his investigation, but I ask again, what’s taking so long? I’m not a lawyer, but I am a taxpayer. It certainly seems to me that the Justice Department has had sufficient incriminating evidence to proceed with an indictment long ago. Their failure to bring this trial to a head has allowed disparate versions of truth as to our nation’s history to go unaddressed for too long.
The Georgia case against Trump may be even more egregious in terms of the length of any pre-trial machinations. Trump’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s election results were made transparent with the release of the tape of the conversation he had with Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump pressured Raffensperger to “find” an additional 11,780 votes. This conversation was uncovered and reported upon on January 3, 2021, and still no indictment two-and-a-half years later. Two-and-a-half years! Why should it take that long? The issues in this case simply are not that complex.
While I’m complaining, I have a particular beef with those who can’t accept the determinations of the relevant authorities after due process has been extended and instead set out to investigate the investigators. Critically, not all due process has to culminate in a trial and conviction. But whenever an investigation of wrongdoing commences by a duly authorized entity, every American should stand back and allow those with investigatory authority to do their work and make their determinations. Those determinations should be accepted gracefully, as opposed to condemning any outcome that counters any preconceived notions as being illegitimate or rigged. Doing otherwise is a fascistic technique that has no place in America.
The charge that, somehow, our system of justice has been “weaponized” to go after Republicans ignores the various investigations of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Hunter Biden, and Joe Biden.
Bill Clinton was impeached for God’s sake! Hillary and Hunter both endured multi-year investigations — Hillary for her responsibilities in connection with the attack on the Benghazi compound as well as her use of a private email server. These issues were well aired and, in both cases, those with authority determined that a conviction wasn’t likely to result if charges were brought. That should have been the end of both stories. Do the critics of these decisions believe a prosecution should have been initiated anyway? That’s certainly not the way I want my tax dollars spent.
With respect to Hunter Biden, after investigating for five long years and counting, the biggest crime they can concoct is a misdemeanor tax offense — despite the delinquent taxes having been repaid. Too many Republicans can’t abide this outcome. They’d rather further exacerbate the political divides in this country and destroy whatever remaining confidence the American people may have in our justice system than agree to accepting the authority of the institutions that are critical to the normal functioning of a civil society.
And let’s not forget the much-touted Congressional investigation of the Biden “crime family.” If the Republicans find anything in the way of wrongdoing, it should be done in a way that allows Biden to confront his accusers — and the sooner the better. If there’s reason to prosecute, let’s do it and have it done with. The never-ending death by innuendo is a dangerous ploy that does none of us any good. It’s time to put up or shut up.
Have feedback? Send me an email at igkawaller@gmail.com.
