Even if former President Donald Trump committed a “technical violation of the constitution” by seeking to overturn the 2020 election, that doesn’t make him a criminal, his attorney argued Sunday on NBC’s Meet the Press. The comments came following a question by host Chuck Todd about Mike Pence’s repeated assertions that Trump asked him to violate the constitution by moving to stop the counting of valid electoral college votes on Jan. 6, 2021, prompting attorney John Lauro to assert that it is “just plain wrong” to suggest that makes him a criminal. When asked in a follow-up email whether he believes that Trump did violate the constitution with his request, Lauro told NBC that he “never said that President Trump committed a technical violation.” Rep Jamie Raskin (D-MD), a key member of the Jan. 6 committee and an outspoken critic of Trump, later said on the network that the defense put forward by Lauro was “deranged.”
I'm not saying that Donald Trump should not be prosecuted for his speech and actions on January 6th, and some of his other behavior before and after related to the election.
ReplyDeleteIt's a strength of the American system that nobody is above the law.
That being said, prosecution of crimes often has a political element. That is because prosecutors at all levels in America -- Federal, State, city, etc. -- have limited resources. They perforce have to make decisions all the time about which cases to prosecute and which to let slide. Similarly, police are constantly making decisions about who to investigate, arrest, charge, etc. The criminal justice system is not perfect in America. But it works alright, and that is due to the many hardworking police, prosecutors, defense lawers, judges, etc.
Sometimes though, it seems to me, there are legal situations that have wide-reaching ramifications. The political element that can exist in a prosecution can sometimes become as important as the process of justice. The case against Donald Trump is such a case.
Let's say that Donald Trump is found guilty. Let's say he even goes to prison for several years.
Great! Justice has been served.
But a precedent has been established. It might now become a cycle that whenever there is a transfer of power at the White House that the incoming President do a full review of the actions of his predecessor (if of a different party) and in turn tell his Attorney General to use the power at his disposal to make sure no crumb of a crime is left unexamined.
The Dems may have set in motion something they won't always be able to control.