(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Trump's assault on the foundations of justice [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-01 Trump and his MAGA mafia are a threat to American justice. The media must step up. Andrew Weissmann is an esteemed American attorney and professor, a former top prosecutor at the Justice Department, who is a political/judicial analyst on the MSNBC network. Immediately following the Trump conviction on May 30, 2024, Weissmann—normally a steady and calm influence—was visibly agitated and upset on air. Not about the conviction itself, but about Trump’s words as he left the courthouse. To Weissmann, Trump’s attack on the judicial system—the very foundation of justice in America—was more than he could bear. Here is the relevant text of what Trump said: This was a disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt as a rigged trial, a disgrace. They wouldn't give us a venue change. We were at 5 percent or 6 percent in this district, in this area. This was a rigged, disgraceful trial. The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people. And they know what happened here and everybody knows what happened here. You have a Soros-backed DA and the whole thing, we didn't do anything wrong. I'm a very innocent man. And it's OK, I'm fighting for our country, I'm fighting for our Constitution. Our whole country is being rigged right now. This was done by the Biden administration in order to vote to wound or hurt an opponent, a political opponent. And I think it's just a disgrace. … But this was a rigged decision right from day one with a conflicted judge who should have never been allowed to try this case, never. And we will fight for our Constitution. This is long from over. To Weissmann, these attacks on justice by a former President were unprecedented. For Trump to couch his conviction under the guise of the Constitution was unconscionable. Weissmann’s remarks included the following: It's a fundamental lack of accepting that people act out of principle, and don't act out of self-interest and that jurors can't be trusted unless they're MAGA Republicans. That is essentially what he's saying is that the jury of my peers has to be people who voted for me. I also think, well, Donald Trump doesn't have the — isn't required to have testified in the courtroom. But when he comes out and says things are rigged and that is now in a political arena, the answer to him in the political arena is, you know what? Then you could have taken the stand [if] you wanted them to hear your voice…. Take the freaking stand. You didn't testify in impeachment one, in impeachment two. You could testify in the E. Jean Carroll case. You could have testified here. You could do all of that. So don't tell me about this being a rigged process when you did not — you didn't stand up and refute Michael Cohen. You didn't do any of that. At this point, host Nicole Wallace remarks, “You don't get worked up about very many things, but this assault, this smear against the rule of law gets to you like nothing else.” Weissmann responds, “But just to be clear, it is — the attack on the rule of law is also something you have seen, which is the attack on journalism. This is all of a piece that is undermining our institutions and then flipping the script to say that somehow this is, like, a nation in decline. No one can be happy today, but this is a day of seeing the rule of law.” Michael Beschloss, a Presidential historian, echoed Weissmann’s perspective: “We have never before seen a President who so deprecated and insulted our legal system and rule of law in public.” If he is reelected, Trump could take the oath of office and vow to defend the Constitution while also saying that the system is rotten. By comparison, Beschloss noted, even Richard Nixon at the height of the Watergate scandal nevertheless affirmed the judicial system and the lawyers involved and said that the people must let that system play out. The MAGA mafia Now the post-conviction environment has devolved into threats of literal attacks on all those involved in Trump’s case—judge, lawyers, jury, related family members, and more. There are calls to “dox” the jury (reveal their addresses and other personal information). “We need to identify each juror,” one source quoted. “Then make them miserable. Maybe even suicidal,” wrote another user. This is not just “like” the Mafia. It is a new category: the “MAGA mafia,” using tactics with a threat of violence to silence those getting in the way of Trump and his followers. Right wing platform Newsmax has promoted veiled threats against the principals involved. One host said he thinks jurors “should be very careful. This is a very volatile situation.” Another host said that the jurors in Trump's hush money trial “can never go anywhere without concerns about being harassed." (“It would be a shame if anything happened to dem beautiful kids, know what I’m sayin’?”) But, again, it’s the attacks on the judicial process that are equally concerning. Long-term Republican congresspeople (Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and many more) have expressed outrage at a fair judicial process. These and other contenders to be the former president’s running mate rushed to his defense after the verdict. Said Rubio, “I think, unfortunately, they’ve made a travesty, a mockery of our criminal justice system.” Attorney Alan Dershowitz attacked the jury system (established in the Constitution). “In this case, the jury was as biased as the judge and the prosecutor,” he said. Without any evidence, Dershowitz claimed that “the vast majority of them obviously voted against Trump and don’t want to see him as President.” Again, an assault on the Constitutional grounding of justice in America. What is to be done: The media’s responsibility The threat here is grave. Trump and his followers, inside and outside of government, will do everything and anything they can to undermine the rule of law in Trump’s favor. One answer has to be that the media agree to tell the accurate story of this insurrection. For better and for worse, we know what is going on in the world only through these outlets (except for the relatively few people with access to the wheels of government as they turn), which gives them a special responsibility. I acknowledge that media companies are businesses and have to watch out for their profits. They are concerned that overt attacks on Republicans will send viewers to another channel. But because Trump constitutes an actual threat to democracy, media outlets (outside of sites like Fox and Newsmax) must band together and agree to treat Trump for what he is, and to accurately report his remarks and their import for the future of the country. This would be a victory for honesty in journalism and a boost to the effort to prevent America’s slide toward authoritarianism. By banding together, news outlets would be protected against channel switching simply for being accurate in their political reporting. Collusion? Yes. So what? This is not a criminal matter. It’s all hands on deck right now for the cause of justice and democracy. The media can no longer hide behind neutrality and “both-sides-ism” in their reporting. They must step up and meet the gravity and depravity of today’s dangerous and volatile political situation, with the future of America itself in the balance. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/1/2244171/-Trump-s-assault-on-the-foundations-of-justice?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web 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/