Latest Indictment of Trump is Election Interference, Attacking our Democracy
They are targeting him. There’s just no other way to view it.
They want him convicted on anything that will put him in prison and make it difficult for him to campaign for president—a race in which he is the clear frontrunner for the nomination, as well as ahead, or tied, in polling against Biden. (Note: Trump could still run even if “convicted” and in jail).
To accomplish this, they are charging him with actions that I believe are constitutionally protected activities.
Let’s review the allegations: conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.
Let’s analyze this:
First, Trump had the right—as every American does—to speak publicly about the election and even to claim that there had been fraud during the election and that he had won. Second, it would have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt—a heavy legal burden—that Trump “knowingly” did the things he’s accused of.
Well, what that means is that if Trump truly believed he won the election (which he has stated many times he does believe!) then he couldn’t be found guilty for “knowingly” attempting to defraud the public. He would only meet that element of the crime if he knew he lost and then did the things he’s accused of.
For that reason, these charges “don’t meet the standard” necessary to form an attack on a leading presidential candidate, stated retired Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz. “These charges don’t meet the standard that ought to be applicable when the attorney general of the United States authorizes prosecution against the man running against his boss.” (National Report, 8-2-23). “That’s a ‘banana republic,’ and the case has to be the strongest possible case when you go after the president’s chief rival, who is tied with the president in recent polls at 44%.” The indictment also has no “smoking guns,” but instead depends completely on Trump’s state of mind, Dershowitz added.
Dershowitz also warned that the indictment may violate Americans’ rights to vote for the candidate of their choice. “You have a constitutional right to vote for or against him, and that shouldn’t be denied by prosecutors or by [Trump’s] political opponents.” (Newsmax, 8-2-2023),
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) has stated: “we’ve argued that an indictment of a former president should be based on serious charges with enough evidence to convince most Americans that it is justly brought,” (8-2-23).
We don’t have that here.
Nevertheless, a weak case matters not because polling indicates Trump can’t possibly get a fair trial in either New York or D.C., anyway. This is not about justice. This is not a prosecution, it’s a political persecution. This is about the current regime weaponizing our own government against its chief political opponent. They hate him but likely can’t beat him, so they’ve engaged in the tactics of a dictator to try to remove him from the race.
This is a dangerous place for America to be.
Let’s consider the utterly political nature of the timing of the Trump indictments:
On March 17th, Hunter Biden admitted the laptop was his and on March 18th Trump was informed that New York City DA Alvin Bragg was indicting him on Stormy Daniels payoff-campaign finance violations. On June 8th, an FBI document claims Ukraine paid Joe Biden a $5 million bribe and the next day Biden’s DOJ indicted Trump on the Mar-a-Lago documents. Then, on July 31st, Hunter Biden’s former business partner testified that Joe Biden was on the phone at least 20 times during Hunter’s business deals, although Joe Biden has lied for years that he “never spoke to his son about his son’s business dealings.” The next day, Trump was indicted on these Jan. 6th charges.
A final thought: sometimes actions have unintended consequences and by charging Pres. Trump with these alleged crimes it will allow Trump’s attorneys to litigate the 2020 election—with subpoena power and under oath—for the whole world to see. The outcome could well vindicate Trump’s election fraud claims.
In fact, if President Trump had not spoken out about the election and the integrity of our voting system, he would have been derelict in his duty as President to see that the laws “be faithfully executed.”
We must all continue to speak out against this clear election interference and blatant attack on our democracy.
