(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Another reason why Trump was indicted, and should be indicted. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-01 The other day I wrote a post explaining why the indictment of former Senator, presidential candidate and general election VP candidate John Edwards shows that it is not unusual for politicians to be indicted for roughly the same charges that Trump is facing. But there is another primary reason that Trump has been indicted: unlike others in his situation, he refuses to accept any responsibility and indeed challenges the justice system to proceed due to his aggressive attacks. Let’s take another plain example. Then sitting president Bill Clinton struck a deal with prosecutors to avoid a criminal indictment relating to his testimony concerning the Monica Lewinsky affair: WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 — On his final full day in office, President Clinton has reached an arrangement with a special prosecutor to avoid being prosecuted after he leaves office in connection with the Monica Lewinsky affair. Mr. Clinton accepted a five-year suspension of his law license, agreed to pay a fine of $25,000 to cover counsel fees arising from the case and acknowledged that he had committed a breach of professional conduct because of testimony he gave in the sexual-harassment suit brought against him by Paula Jones. "I have apologized for my conduct, and I have done my best to atone for it with my family, my administration, and the American people," Mr. Clinton said in a statement released this afternoon. "I have paid a high price for it, which I accept because it caused so much pain to so many people. I hope my actions today will bring hope and closure and finality to these matters." President Clinton agreed to such a deal not because former presidents could not be indicted, but precisely because they could be. Or another example: sitting Vice President Spiro Agnew did not contest criminal charges against him and resigned from office: On October 10, 1973, Agnew appeared before the federal court in Baltimore, and pleaded nolo contendere (no contest) to one felony charge, tax evasion, for the year 1967. [Attorney General] Richardson agreed that there would be no further prosecution of Agnew, and released a 40-page summary of the evidence. Agnew was fined $10,000 and placed on three years' unsupervised probation. At the same time, Agnew submitted a formal letter of resignation to the Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, and sent a letter to Nixon stating he was resigning in the best interest of the nation. Nixon responded with a letter concurring that the resignation was necessary to avoid a lengthy period of division and uncertainty, and applauding Agnew for his patriotism and dedication to the welfare of the United States. (Mr. Agnew’s case has been the subject of a book and popular podcast by Rachel Maddow.) As to former president Richard Nixon, who faced potential criminal charges over Watergate, Nixon refused to publicly admit wrongdoing, but he did resign the presidency and accepted a pardon issued by President Ford, back when accepting a pardon was considered a shameful act and, by US Supreme Court case law, carried with it an implied admission of guilt. Although Nixon at the time continued to deny wrongdoing, he did issue a weak (no admission) apology for his “mistakes”: I can see clearly now is that I was wrong in not acting more decisively and more forthrightly in dealing With Watergate, particularly when it reached the stage of judicial proceedings and grew from a political scandal into a national tragedy. No words can describe the depths of my regret and pain at the anguish my mistakes over Watergate have caused the nation and the Presidency, a nation I so deeply love and an institution I so greatly respect. Contrast all of this with Trump, who has not accepted guilt or even mistakes, has not apologized, remained in office in the face of two impeachments, and — most damning of all — has embarked on a campaign to impugn not only the justice system but democracy itself. So, when viewed in historical context, Trump’s criminal indictment is not only his own fault through criminal conduct, but through his steadfast refusal to take easy “off ramps” offered to the privileged and to put the country’s interests ahead of his own. Viewed in the proper historical context, it would be a crime not to indict former president Trump. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/1/2161500/-Another-reason-why-Trump-was-indicted-and-should-be-indicted Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/