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The Trump indictments will decide if we are still a ‘nation of laws.’ [1]

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Date: 2023-06-10  

The February 9, 2023, indictment in a federal court in Miami, Florida, of former president Donald Trump on charges including the willful retention of national defense information, making false statements, obstruction of justice, and attempts to conceal his crimes are a watershed moment in American history. Trump becomes the first former president to be indicted on federal criminal charges, and this comes after he was found liable in a New York civil case for defamation in a case involving a woman who alleges he sexually assaulted her in a department store. To add to Trump’s list of firsts, he is still under investigation for illegally interfering in the Georgia election and for inciting the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol, both criminal cases that could mean serious prison time if he’s convicted.

Not surprisingly, Trump supporters, including a number of GOP politicians, have rushed to his defense, making not-so-veiled threats against the FBI and DOJ for having the temerity to do the jobs they were created to do. Some of these rabid defenders are the same ones who yelled for then-presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to be ‘locked up’ for allegedly keeping sensitive information on a private server. But this rank hypocrisy is a whole other matter.

What’s really at stake here is whether we as a nation are, as we often claim when we berate other countries for ignoring the rule of law, a nation of laws where no one is above the law. When the indictment was unsealed, Special counsel Jack Smith, who brought the charges, said, “We have one set of laws in this country and they apply to everyone.” Given the stance many in the GOP are taking in this case that remains to be seen.

Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond doubt, so Trump should have his day in court. Many of his supporters object to this, and if one looks at just the evidence that has been made public, it’s easy to see why. There are, for instance, leaked recordings of Trump showing what he claims is a ‘highly confidential’ document to an uncleared person at his New Jersey golf course, and another of his showing a classified map of a military operation to a member of his political committee and stating that it was still classified and the person shouldn’t get too close to it. Both recordings were made in New Jersey, while Trump has publicly maintained that all of the files—which he erroneously insists belong to him—were secure at his Florida resort home. In addition to the New Jersey incident, photos showing stacks of boxes containing documents in unsecured places around the ‘Florida resort where he lives, undercut his assertions. There are also notes made by one of his former lawyers, unsealed by a judge under the provision of the law that negates attorney-client privilege if the actions were in furtherance of a criminal action, that indicate that Trump was not only aware of the presence of prohibited documents, but took steps to conceal them from FBI investigators who were traveling to Florida to search for them.

It's up to a jury to decide if Donald Trump is guilty of the crimes he’s been charged with, and it’ll be up to the judge who presides over his first court appearance—a judge he appointed—to ensure that the law if followed in this case and no favors are granted to the accused that would not be available to any other accused.

Any departure from legal norms in this case will weaken the foundations of the American justice system and undermine the basis of Constitutional order upon which this nation was founded.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/10/2174499/-The-Trump-indictments-will-decide-if-we-are-still-a-nation-of-laws

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