(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . A Flash of Brilliance [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-07-23 Political punditry is afire with speculation over one of the pending charges against Donald J. Trump to come from the investigation of special counsel Jack Smith. Trump received a recent target letter suggesting the Department of Justice plans to charge him under three separate statutes, including: deprivation of rights, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., and tampering with a witness. Most observers of his legal troubles expected him to be charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, which was suggested by the select committee that investigated the January 6th insurrection. The exact nature of the tampering charge is under dispute. It’s the other charge, 18 U.S.C. § 242, “Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law”, which surprised many people. (See Justice.gov.) (Also, see Trump under investigation for civil rights conspiracy in January 6 inquiry by Hugo Lowell in The Guardian) This is a brilliant charge because it is a very politically astute charge. If the DOJ actually charges Trump under this statute, what will it mean and how will they prove it? What rights did Trump try to take away and from whom? To understand that, I think we need to understand what he tried to do. He tried to change the electoral outcome of the 2020 presidential election by having Congress count more electoral votes for him than for Joe Biden. To do that, he attempted to get Vice President Mike Pence to declare the legitimate votes of the Electoral College wrong or insufficient, so that Congress would either accept votes from fake electors, enough to give him the presidency, or throw the election into the House of Representatives, where he hoped to get a majority of votes. This is the “color of law” part of the charge. He attempted to manipulate the processes of the federal government to illegally and illegitimately declare himself President. That would deprive the voters of their right to elect the President. In sum: Donald Trump tried to deprive voters of their right to elect the president by using the powers of the government to give the presidency to someone they didn’t elect. Here is why this charge is politically astute. I don’t mean “political” in the sense of having a part in the American political system. This isn’t about favoring one political party over another, or favoring the left or right political ideology. I mean “political” in the generic sense of “relating to views about social relationships that involve power, standing, influence or conflict.” (Wiktionary) Whose rights were violated? Yours, if you are a legal voter. Yours, if you are an American citizen over 18. Your rights were violated by Donald Trump’s attempt to set aside the will of the American people and substitute his own. If you are an American citizen, you are entitled to (along with a heated kidney-shaped pool) your say in the government. Donald Trump tried to take that away from you. I, for one, am not amused. There’s a saying that when you come after the king, you better not miss. Ironically, even Donald Trump quoted this saying. But he doesn’t seem to understand the lesson. In the United States, the people are sovereign. The allegation is that a commoner, Donald Trump, tried to take away sovereignty from the people. And missed. We are in the clean up phase, where the king is hunting down the conspirators and putting them on trial, sending them to prison. The federal government works on behalf of the people of the United States. The DOJ works for the people of the United States. That’s how the legitimate political system works. Anything else is a dangerous aberration. So this charge is politically astute in the sense that it pits Donald Trump against the voters of the United States. If you look at it in terms of power and in terms of influencing who has the power, naming the People of the United States in this suit is persuasive. This trial (we all expect one) will be about whether you get to keep your right to help determine who is President. It’s personal. You have a stake in the outcome of this trial. If Donald Trump wins, you lose. He tried to take a right away from you. And if he’s acquitted on this charge, deprivation of your rights under the color of law, you will lose your right. This is now a trial about you. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/23/2182843/-A-Flash-of-Brilliance 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/