(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Golden Judicial Goose: Trump’s Fleecing of Lady Justice [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-06-10 Folks, I’ve been around the political block more times than I care to count. I’ve seen administrations come and go, scandals erupt and fizzle and enough hypocrisy from elected officials to make your head spin like Linda Blair in The Exorcist. But even by the lofty standards of Washington double-speak, the rank hypocrisy oozing from the man who still disgracefully refers to himself as the President of the United States is enough to make me choke on my morning Geritol. Donald J. Trump has made a cottage industry out of whining about the supposed “two-tiered” justice system that affords him different treatment than everyone else. By his telling, he is the tragic victim of a “witch hunt” prosecution driven by partisan political motives. He bellows about biased judges, tainted juries, overzealous prosecutors, and a system stacked against him from the start. Yet an objective look at the overwhelming body of evidence shows the complete opposite—Trump has benefited from privileges, loopholes, and judicial deference that an ordinary criminal defendant could only dream of. Far from being mistreated, the judicial system has coddled him at every turn like an overly doting parent with a spoiled rotten child. Let’s review the shameful indulgences and covert machinations that have allowed Trump to run out the clock on justice for years. Despite facing a raft of felony charges that would have any other defendant stuck in a dank jail cell, Trump has been allowed to remain free and unchained throughout his legal ordeal. The frothing rage monster that once occupied the Oval Office has been granted bond after bond with barely a wrist slap of conditions. This unwarranted deference brings us to the casual way Trump has flagrantly violated those bond conditions to intimidate witnesses, judges, and prosecutors without any consequences. If any other defendant so much as burped in the direction of a potential witness, they’d be remanded to custody until their dentures loosened. But Trump’s relentless torrent of threats, smears, and grotesque attacks against those involved in his cases has been given a judicial shoulder shrug. Prosecutors have tut-tutted about the risks of jury tampering and witness intimidation, while Trump’s legal team blithely hand-waves it all away as Fair Game under the First Amendment. What other criminal defendant could hope to get away with posting ominous messages about going after their accusers or musing about having a retired general executed for treason as a warmup act? Heaven forbid someone snap their gum in Court, as that’s the sort of shocking breach of decorum that could get a defendant tossed in the slammer. Such deferential treatment brings us to the case of the former President’s hand-picked judges systematically rigging the game in his favor. Of course, much outrage has already been spilled over the comical piece of performance art that is Judge Aileen Cannon overseeing the classified documents case in Florida. Cannon, a Trump-appointed judge with all the qualifications to be a Walmart greeter, has tormented prosecutors by jerking them around with vague rulings and delays that have brought the case to a grinding halt. At this rate, by the time Cannon finally gets around to scheduling a trial date, Trump will be gumming his meals at the Shady Glades Retirement Home. Now, some cynics may suggest that Judge Cannon is auditioning for a Supreme Court seat by showing her willingness to make a mockery of justice to please her benefactor. But I’m sure the esteemed judge has only the most conscientious motives for grinding the proceedings to a screeching halt — maybe she really savors the luxury of sleeping in until noon without any rush to get things moving. Speaking of the Supreme Court, we have yet another shameful example of the system putting turnbuckles in the floorboards to give Trump a smooth glide through the judicial process. When a lower court ruled unanimously that Trump’s claim of presidential immunity over his actions around the January 6th insurrection was so much bunk, any reasonable jurist would have swiftly stamped “DENIED” on his appeal. Instead, the Supreme Court agreed to allow the delaying tactic, handing Trump a massive procedural victory by punting the issue to the end of their term. No innocent party has ever been so keen on dragging out criminal proceedings for maximum delay as Trump. The justification from Justice Neil Gorsuch and friends was that they were “writing a rule for the ages” on the immunity question. Yes, a rule for the ages that benefits...the guy who appointed one-third of you to your current jobs. No conflict of interest is to be found here, folks! Of course, we haven’t even mentioned Trump’s ace in the hole now that the unthinkable has occurred in New York, where he has found himself on the wrong end of a jury verdict — his inevitable appeal to his loyal bench of Supreme Court beneficiaries. You can hear the chortling from the Federalist Society heavyweights measuring the drapes for the Court’s newest members if Trump regains the presidency and deigns to reward their loyalty. Let’s not forget the poor saps in Georgia still trying to bring Trump to justice over his ham-fisted efforts to steal the 2020 election there. A circus sideshow of motions alleging investigator conflicts of interest has ground that prosecution to a standstill just long enough to ensure no trial happens until after the next inauguration. What an odd coincidence! So, in summary, Trump faces felony charges in multiple jurisdictions over his frantic efforts to remain in power and his abuse of classified documents as a personal souvenir stash. And you have heard that he was recently convicted of thirty-four felony charges in his sordid hush money case in New York — a case that would make a Louisiana congressman blush. Yet through a combination of creative lawyering, buying time with endless motions, and a disturbing willingness by courts to indulge his antics, Trump has managed to game the system just long enough to make the whole mess go away with re-election potentially. In other words, ​Trump has benefited from the kind of special treatment and privilege he publicly rails against every time his harassment of the judicial branch allows him to breathe fresh air as a free man for another news cycle. The sheer arrogance of Trump’s efforts makes this aging scribe want to down another shot of crème de menthe. That Trump has somehow turned a career of shamelessly abusing the legal system for his benefit into an evergreen marketing campaign about being persecuted by that very same system is almost...admirable in a deeply cynical way. So, heed the words of this politico who has seen more crimson tides in government than the cast of Carrie: If you want to know what a judicially-rigged, two-tiered system of justice looks like, gaze upon the golden fleece Trump has harvested from Lady Justice’s judicial goose. He writes the rules; they play by them. Maybe justice isn’t blind after all — just mindlessly indulgent to the rich and powerful willing to buy enough time for the coming electoral restart. If that happens, it won’t just be scales covering Lady Justice’s eyes, but a thick glop of Trump’s orange makeup across her once-proud visage. ~Dunneagin~ [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/10/2245267/-The-Golden-Judicial-Goose-Trump-s-Fleecing-of-Lady-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/