Beet
Atlas Star
Posts: 29,062
|
 |
« on: May 13, 2024, 02:25:12 PM » |
|
Essentially it comes down to this. Trump should have been prosecuted when he was in office, since he probably didn't do collusion, but he absolutely did do obstruction of justice. Mueller coming out and saying that he was going to accept internal OLC policy within the DOJ that the president has effective criminal immunity was devastating to the rule of law. Keep in mind that the OLC is controlled by the president and its internal policy is not law. This was in 2019.
For him to suddenly get 80 or 90 charges thrown at him once he's in opposition and running for president means little. It is well known that the establishment - political, media, and otherwise, are against him. There is a reason why people used to scoff whenever opposition politicians were subject to criminal charges in developing countries with weak traditions of democratic rule. The use of State Power to criminalize the democratic opposition is a classic strategy of autocracy. Even if Trump is truly guilty, the fact that he was only prosecuted once he was out of office and would be able to pardon himself if he gets back in robs the proceedings of all meaning. If anything, it creates a perverse incentive for men to try and get into (and stay in) office by extralegal means, since as long as they are in office, they are immune, but as soon as they step down, they could be criminals.
In short, presidential power has already won; if Trump is convicted, it will be because he does not hold the Office. If he is not, then he got away with crimes committed while in Office. In both cases, the principle of rule of law over man, which was the most important issue among all of Trump's legal issues, has already been decided in favor of man, as long as that man is the President.
|
