Donald Trump and equal justice under law

My good friend John sent me this Tom Tomorrow cartoon about the conviction of Donald Trump on falsification of business records.  But I don’t find the talking points in the cartoon as ridiculous as my friend does.

We have a presidential election campaign going on in which an ex-president, Donald Trump, is running against an incumbent president, Joe Biden.  This means we don’t have to speculate on what they’d do about the nation’s multiple crises if elected.  We already know, based on their records.

Instead of attacking Trump’s record, the Democratic Party, supported by the establishment news media, national security apparatus or criminal justice system, are trying to pre-determine the results of the election by abusing the criminal justice system by searching for something – anything – that can knock Trump out of the running.

There was a parallel in the “vast right-wing conspiracy” to generate a scandal to drive Bill Clinton from office in the 1990s.  As a result of a campaign by right-wing private foundations, news organizations and politicians, a special counsel was appointed to investigate a real estate deal by Bill Clinton when he was governor of Arkansas.  

The result was an impeachment trial in Congress, based on Clinton’s having been entrapped into lying to the special counsel about his sex life.  Clinton did perjure himself, but Congress correctly decided this was not a serious enough offense to drive an elected President from office.

Similarly, everything I know of that Trump has been accused of since 2016 has proved to be bogus, trivial or outside the statute of limitations.  None of this is serious enough to drive an elected President from office or prevent a party’s nominee from running for office.

I am not defending overall Trump’s record as President.  That is not the issue in this post.  The issue is his trial and conviction on charges of supposed crime of falsification of business records in the first degree.

Let’s consider Tom Tomorrow’s talking points, one by one.

 

The judge was corrupt and the trial was rigged

During the 2020 election campaign, State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan made small contributions to Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden’s campaign, the Progressive Turnout Project, and Stop Republicans, a subsidiary of the previous.

His daughter, Loren Merchan, is (or until recently was) president of Authentic Campaigns, a political consulting firm that works with Democratic politicians, including leading anti-Tump figures such as Adam Schiff. 

I don’t call this actual corruption, but there is a strong argument that the judge should have recused himself from being able to judge this case impartially.

If they can do it to Trump, they can do it to anyone.

The crime Trump was convicted of was something that nobody had previously thought of as a felony.  If someone like him could go to prison for wrongly recording a payment to his lawyer as a “legal fee,” what chance do I (or maybe you) have?

I cannot believe that Trump is the only politician with an illicit affair in their past, who has tried to suppress knowledge of it.  If sleazy personal behavior is criminalized, American politics is about to get very interesting. 

What about unrelated things?

That panel refers to a verdict in a civil case last year that Donald Trump over-valued his real estate holdings in order to get favorable terms on bank loans.  I haven’t studied the details of the case, but an earlier ProPublica investigation showed his valuations for bank loan and insurance purposes are much higher than valuations for tax purposes.  Forbes magazine regularly reports that Trump’s wealth is less than he claims it is.

On the other hand, also without research, I’m pretty sure he is not the only real estate developer who does this.  The value of high-value real estate is a matter of opinion until it is bought or sold, and sometimes even then.

No laws were broken.

Donald Trump paid hush money to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal in return for silence about the sexual relations.  This is not illegal.  He had his lawyer, Michael Cohen, pay the money in 34 separate payments, and then reimbursed him.  This is not illegal, either.

What Trump did do was to record the payment to Cohen as a “legal fee.”  This was held to be a falsification of business records, which is a misdemeanor, which would involve a fine.  What made it a felony was that, according to the prosecution, the motive for paying the hush money was to influence the election campaign.  In other words, if Trump had not been a candidate, it would not have been a crime.

Joe Biden orchestrated everything.

Of course Joe Biden, with his serious cognitive issues, did not orchestrate the campaign against Trump.   I don’t think there was a single instigator, but if there is one, it is Hillary Clinton.  It is she tried to persuade the Electoral College to not seat Trump  and who instigated the bogus Russiagate investigation.

 This will set a dangerous precedent.

During the 2016 election, Donald Trump let crowds in chanting, “Lock her up! Lock her up!”  It was scandalous that one presidential candidate was threatening to imprison the opposing candidate.  He didn’t actually try to do it.  But the supporters of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden are actively trying to get Donald Trump locked up. 

This is good, actually.

Real Clear Politics summary of public opinion polls.  Via Lambert Strether.

After the Jan. 6 fiasco, Donald Trump’s standing in the polls fell to rock bottom.  But the campaign against him transformed his image in the public eye from rich bully to victim of persecution.  He now stands a chance of winning the 2024 election fair and square.  So, from the standpoint of Trump supporters, the outcome actually may be good.  Time will tell.

Revenge is a dish best served at room temperature.

Of course there’s going to be payback.  Of course there’s going to be retaliation.  Not that I advocate it.  You can’t mobilize the whole criminal justice system to find a crime by a single individual, and then treat it as a unique event that sets no precedent.

I am not a Trump supporter (though I shouldn’t have to say so to make my point).  My purpose in writing this was not to vindicate Trump as a leader or as a person.  It was to show the problem with twisting the law to go after a hated person, and to show my liberal Democratic friends how the legal system is being misused.

LINKS

What potential grounds does Donald Trump have to appeal his hush money conviction? by Nadine el-Bawab for ABC News.

Trump completes mandatory sentencing interview in NY hush money case by Michelle L. Price and Michael L. Sisak for the Associated Press.

In Court, We’re All Abused Like Donald Trump by Ted Rall.  [Added 06/14/2024]

Tags: Donald Trump, Election 2024