From Ankush Khardori, a former federal prosecutor, in "Trump’s Prosecution Has Set a Dangerous Precedent" (NYT).
The shorter, more famous quote is "Show me the man. I'll show you the crime."
But here's how the Khardori column ends: "We should all let the case proceed through the courts until it reaches an orderly resolution and, whatever the result, try to chalk it all up to the fact that Mr. Trump never fails to generate strange and unique situations."
Trump is strange and unique. Does that mean what happens to him doesn't really say anything about what will happen in later cases? I'd say no. It sets precedents, and because Trump seems so unlike anyone else, we may imagine the precedents are not precedents. But they are.
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64 comments:
Lots of things to indict Joe Biden for.
"try to chalk it all up to the fact that Mr. Trump never fails to generate strange and unique situations."
It wasn't Trump who generated this situation.
I'd love to know the top-voted comment from the NYT readership.
Trump has been indicted because he’s still leading a massive populist pro-America movement and as such, running for President. If he were effectively retired, and the pro-America movement rendered moot, there’d be no indictment. The left can’t win on their Marxist ideas - that’s why Joe replaced Bernie as the Trojan figurehead in 2020 - so they kneecap those with the more popular ideas with indictments and election fraud.
There is some caveat in that Trump wasn’t president when he tried to hide his affair from his wife and the public. But the precedent of indicting a former president stands because future presidents will also have a time before they become president that will be ripe for the picking.
Nothing new here. Alan Bragg is just the new Ronnie Earle, New York the new Travis County. Trump the new Tom Delay.
The gambit worked in 2005 (though Delay was eventually exonerated, he was done in Congress) and there was no significant pushback, no sudden rash of partisan GOP DAs convening grand juries to bring charges against powerful Democrats. Something is not a problem in the Democrat's world until it is a problem for Democrats and the GOP refuses to play the same game. In any struggle the aggressor sets the ground rules. The GOP needs to learn--as a famous community organizer once said--to "punch back twice as hard".
A few well placed, partisan indictments in this target rich environment would have the Democrats begging for a return to the rule of law in days.
We now have the precedent that real conspiracies aren't prosecuted, but non-conspiracies are.
Strange and unique, because he is the most honest politician to ever set foot in DC.
With the added uniqueness of threatening to shut down the grift.
After 2+ years of Biden, calling Trump unique, is just ignoring reality.
The Democrats were super-excited when a few district court judges entered nationwide injunctions against some of Trump’s executive actions, but now that few different district court judges are entering nationwide injunctions against some of Biden’s executive actions, they are getting all bent out of shape. It’s like they never learn.
"Mr. Trump never fails to generate strange and unique situations."
The DNC, the Clinton campaign, and their media allies promoted Trump eight years ago. The prosecution is just one more step in the coverup of that action.
All I know is nobody doesn’t think that Joe Biden and his entire crime family are not scumbag cockroaches who have been bleeding this country since he entered government. Same thing goes for both of the Clintons. They along with Bush are also war criminals.
If there is to be justice, they must be prosecuted and the punishment has to be as severe as possible. It is the only way this country can return to normal.
Now apply the same precedent to every member of Congress.
"Just then this cop comes down the street
Crazy as a loon
He throw us all in jail
For carryin’ harpoons"
I think you’re warning is exactly right. It is because Trump is strange and unique that we need to be extra cautious. There is a natural tendency, and I see it even among some people capable of being thoughtful and intelligent, to relax the standards of rights-protection because he’s not like us—never considering that letting them go after him will make it easier for them to go after us later.
There are lots of sayings about it—feed the alligator hoping it will eat us last, death by 1,000 cuts, the slippery slope. They are all getting at an idea we ignore at our peril. My favourite is not a saying, but should be: heroes of the first amendment are always inconvenient.
Trump gets investigated by the feds the moment he opened his campaign 2015. They spent millions to look in every nook and cranny and found nothing. Spied on him and his staff. He wins anyway. Fast forward to 2020. The Commie-Pinkos cheat their way to the White House. Trump is not quiet about it. So who gets investigated for this? No, not the Pinkos. No, it's Trump. Glee on the left.
The left may win this chapter, but going forward how do they think will end? Have they thought about it? It is clear they have not. A large portion of Trump's 75 million voters are not less than thrilled. What will they do going forward?
Has there ever been such a case of malicious and selective prosecution? Where a DA has campaigned for election on his intention to indict a specific person? In any decent system this case and this DA would be tossed at the earliest opportunity. Of course, true Progressives don't care about anything but getting what they happen to want right now.
It would be good to know what, exactly, Trump is being charged with, and then go from there. Could this "criminal" process wind its way to the US Supreme Court, and if so, over what time frame? We may have Trump kicking-off a formal campaign in February or March of 2024 while still embroiled in a serious legal dispute. What precedent! To what outcome?
No No no!!
Just because democrats (correctly!) witch hunted Trump..
That does NOT mean that (EVIL!) republicans have ANY rights to pursue honest (democrat) Presidents
That does NOT mean that (EVIL!) republicans have ANY rights
Rules and Laws are MADE (by democrats) to Destroy (EVIL!) republicans. This is the way it has ALWAYS been
remember back when Biden intervened in Ukrainian politics? And so they Impeached Trump?
THAT is the way it has ALWAYS Been
Democrats are not deterred by this argument. In fact, I would claim that if anything, they like it. Why?
They like it because the precedent gives them and their many disciples the roadmap, the weapons (any law that might fit), and the methods for taking down other Republicans around the country that they see as a mortal enemy. Such as certain Governors that are moving up quickly on their radar. Or at least to use the process itself as obstruction, cost factor, and unending punishment to keep such enemies on defense.
No, they know that the Republicans will never do this to them. They know Republicans are congenitally unable to muster up the courage to fight like street fighters instead of by Marquis of Queensbury Rules. And even if one or two randomly did, they have multiple layers of backstops (judges, DAs, venues, and wacky ideological jurors) to quickly defeat any such efforts.
Lawfare is now confirmed as the Democrats' chosen warfare strategy. The Republicans may never come up with the antidote...but the citizens might. TBD.
Tulsi Gabbard 🌺
@TulsiGabbard
The fact that Dem elite/permanent Washington is able & willing to use the power of law enforcement to go after political opponents, everyone from parents attending school board meetings to a former president, is evidence that our country is no longer a functioning democracy or a truly free country
R C Belaire said...
It would be good to know what, exactly, Trump is being charged with, and then go from there.
Amen, amen and again amen.
John Henry
Bill and Hillary Clinton have committed multiple felonies ranging from petty corruption to murder in Arakansas. That seems like a good and easy place to start.
Breezy said...
"Trump has been indicted because he’s still leading a massive populist pro-America movement and as such, running for President. "
There it is.
Professora: “…It sets precedents, and because Trump seems so unlike anyone else, we may imagine the precedents are not precedents. But they are.”
Bingo. Not just precedents, but provocations. They can’t be forgotten or undone, they can’t be distinguished or explained away, they will rankle and burn, endlessly compounding the original and continuing ambition to get even.
I don't think loyal members of the regime have to be too concerned about meeting Trump's fate as long as they play ball.
Remember a couple years ago when we learned Congress had established a fund using taxpayer dollars to pay hush money to victims of sexual harassment and other misconduct by members and staff and the details are all kept secret?
They've paid out millions of dollars using these funds. And that isn't the only fund of its kind in the government.
Let's not forget the reasons "Mr. Trump never fails to generate strange and unique situations." The insiders can't count on him to keep their secrets and play ball. By some kind of twisted logic, many think this means Trump deserves whatever he gets.
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/paulmcleod/she-complained-that-a-powerful-congressman-harassed-her#.rbjPe9x3q
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/11/21/16679292/secret-fund-pays-victims-sexual-harassment-the-hill
Can we get Hunter, James, and Joe on income tax evasion? With the Biden Administration’s IRS going hard after waiters and other service staff who rely on tips to make ends meet, the irony would be awesome.
Mid 30's Germany. Lotsa Ingas there too.
Biden, his brother and son deserve to be at the end of a criminal probe and prosecution.
I don't see how Donald Trump is strange or unique except possibly to the extent that he may actually welcome this latest development. He's raising a lot of moeny off it and it puts him front and center in the news, in conversations, on blogs, and so on. I think he enjoys being the center of attention, sucking all the oxygen out of the room. Will politicians start using the legal apparatus against each other? Maybe that means they'll be too busy to target the rest of us with the laws they pass.
Trump is strange and unique.
So is Joe Biden, if you think about it. My gripe with you, Professor (one of them, anyway). is that you have been watching unprecedented attacks on Donald Trump by parts of the federal government itself, both as President and after his term of office, and you act as though all the turmoil is and has been Trump’s fault. The Times, the Post, and your precious Democrats told you that Trump was strange, and you eagerly lapped it up. Even in this post your concern is not about the weaponization of the government against a single individual, but the possibility that it might used as a precedent against genuine corruption by Democrats.
The Constitution isn't protected by the Constitution but by gentlemen's agreements.
"The GOP needs to learn--as a famous community organizer once said--to "punch back twice as hard"."
That will never happen. At least 50% of the elected republicans at the federal level support the democraticals long term policy agenda, including the weaponization of government at all levels against the republican party base and our corrupted election processes.
If it seems like the democraticals dont care that we see them flying their maoist freak flags across the nation because they know they have future elections sewn up and the technical tools and cultural controls to shut down effective dissent, thats because the democraticals do believe that...and they are probably right at scale with just a few pockets of possible pushback remaining available.
Trump is less unique than any establishment lackey is willing to admit. His antics are commonplace among politicians, newsies, and elites--his showmanship is not.
New attorney general in Idaho is a Republican. The Davoise periodically meet in Sun Valley. While the county is blue, I’m sure the next meeting will be flooded with Idaho State Police looking for crimes to prosecute.
"a Democrat, perhaps even President Biden, ends up on the receiving end of a similar effort by any of the thousands of prosecutors elected to local office,"
It's a Win-Win for Leftist Democrats.
The DA, Alvin Bragg, is an activist thug who is willing to indict Trump for a bullshit charge that nobody really cares about.
Moderate or conservative district attorneys are measured and deliberate. Name a moderate or conservative in any governmental position who frequently acted with abandon. It's tempting to say President Trump. His words were novel, but his actions in office weren't. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is about the only one I can think of. There may be a few, but I can't think of any.
The corporate media would work to bring down any conservative person or organization that acted as blatantly as Bragg. Only Leftists are allowed to act like this.
If the corporate media is not successful, and we somehow get a rash of aggressively partisan Republican district attorneys, the the Leftist Democrats win by promoting the deterioration of American society.
R C Belaire said...
It would be good to know what, exactly, Trump is being charged with, and then go from there.
Trump's unforgivable sin was questioning Obama's citizenship.
Strange and Unique vs. Cruel and Unusual
"Mr. Trump never fails to generate strange and unique situations."
Bad Trump. He shouldn't "generate" such things.
"It sets precedents, and because Trump seems so unlike anyone else, we may imagine the precedents are not precedents. But they are."
Well, in theory. But some precedents are more precedential than others. In practice, the right doesn't do lawfare nearly as well, and the regime will resist any attempt. See Biden, Hunter.
It sets precedents, and because Trump seems so unlike anyone else, we may imagine the precedents are not precedents. But they are.
Yup. Speaking of which, is there a statute of limitations on the crime of mishandling classified information? And if do, has it expired in the 10 years (plus 2 months) since Hillary Clinton resigned as Secretary of State?
Pro-Choice ethical religion.
Trump's unforgivable sin was questioning Obama's citizenship.
Ending Obama's second Iraq war and Iranian proxy funding, and the World War Spring series including standing up to the Slavic Spring waged in Ukraine from Kiev. Also, addressing the progressive prices in single/central/monopolistic solutions prosecuted through Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacares. Also, standing up to the Green blight, the environmentalist lobby, and associated cargo cult of [catastrophic] [anthropogenic] climate cooling... warming... change. Also, standing up for human rights in opposition of endangering women and girls through human rites, planned parenthood, the wicked solution performed for social, redistributive, clinical, political, criminal, and progressive causes in sanctuary States. There are diverse (number, not color) reason why Democrats and Decepticons nurse an acutely phobic reaction to Trump, America, Americans, babies... fetal-babies, science, etc.
"We should all let the case proceed through the courts until it reaches an orderly resolution...."
As though we have a choice in the matter. This is just another NYT recitation of "BUT TRUMP" justifying The Evil Party and the leftmediaswine showing their true corrupt colors.
It is delusional thinking to suppose that shameless Democrat grifters will ever be held accountable for their crimes. We likely will not see another Republican POTUS or honest DOJ. East cost AGs and DAs, Democrats all, are as corrupt as the DOJ. Bottom line: Democrats have corrupted nearly everything.
No, because republicans are pussies.
That's why they lose...
Lefties were banging on yesterday (Stephen King among them) that Trump was immoral because he cheated on his wife.
Forgetting of course that knuckles Biden did the very same thing.
Everything is now permitted.
I cry for our constitutional republic with legal norms that set a solid foundation for the rule of law. Now America has lost the moral high ground in the world as craven prosecutors pursue political enemies just as in every corrupt banana republic. This feels like a real turning point for America.
Btw, Democrats will not like it when prosecutors follow this example for Biden, who has committed real crimes. Just like Obama changing Senate confirmation rules to stack the DC court which led to a 6-3 conservative majority on the Supreme Court. And Democrats will have done this only to fail to get a conviction, at least after appeal.
"The Democrats were super-excited when a few district court judges entered nationwide injunctions against some of Trump’s executive actions, but now that few different district court judges are entering nationwide injunctions against some of Biden’s executive actions, they are getting all bent out of shape. It’s like they never learn.
LOL! You really believe this, don't you, Douglas? Just sit back and watch what happens. Maybe you will learn something.
I have been contacting Texas prosecutors on just this issue. Hopefully all red states will bring the pain. Obama certainly should be brought up on war charges for killing so many civilians with drones. Or a book deal. And we know Hillary did the exact thing they are prosecuting Trump for, so she is a slam dunk.
Sorry, Althouse- the precendent that has been set is that any successful Republican on the national stage will be treated like Trump going forward. The alternate precendent, that Republicans will do this to Democrats has not been set, and likely isn't going to be.
Yikes. Precendent twice. I need to work on my typing.
“Lots of things to indict Joe Biden for.”
Sure, but does FJB have the mental capacity to stand trial? All that his attorneys would have to do is put him on the stand. If he ever could, he probably no longer has the mental capacity to tell right from wrong, or fiction from reality. His son, and probably brother, wife, and maybe even his widowed daughter-in-law, on the other hand.…
"We should all let the case proceed through the courts until it reaches an orderly resolution and, whatever the result, try to chalk it all up to the fact that Mr. Trump never fails to generate strange and unique situations."
Why? Why should we show the least deference to a corrupt system? Alvin Bragg is a criminal usurper, a monster selected by George Soros to deprive Americans of our rights as citizens. Fortunately, Soros is an old man, and will be dead soon. The evil he does will live on after him, in the form of the walking chancre Alvin Bragg.
Yes, such an assertion as this from 130+ years ago has been absurd for a long time:
The Ethics of Democracy by F.J. Stimson. Scribner's Magazine (1887)
p 661-662
The writer of this article has for several years been occupied with a work which involved careful study and comparison of all the statute books of the United States. And the statutes, however contemptuously the court of law regard them, are after all on the utterance of the people's will. They are the direct speech of the "One who has authority."
Even the same author 23 years later:
Popular Law-making: A Study of the Origin, History, and Present Tendencies of Law-making by Statute
by Frederic Jesup Stimson (1910)
Thus at first the American people got the notion of law-making; of the making of new law, by legislatures, frequently elected; and in that most radical period of all, from about 1830 to 1860, the time of “isms” and reforms — full of people who wanted to legislate and make the world good by law, with a chance to work in thirty different States — the result has been that the bulk of legislation in this country, in the first half of the last century, is probably one thousandfold the entire law-making of England for the five centuries preceding. And we have by no means got over it yet; probably the output of legislation in this country to-day is as great as it ever was. If any citizen thinks that anything is wrong, he, or she (as it is almost more likely to be), rushes to some legislature to get a new law passed. Absolutely different is this idea from the old English notion of law as something already existing. They have forgotten that completely, and have the modern American notion of law, as a ready-made thing, a thing made to-day to meet the emergency of to-morrow.
Many more "radical periods" have piled on more statutes and driven out the idea that anyone, even those who profession is the law or its enforcement, can know the law. Hence qualified immunity's reasoning to subvert the idea from Magna Carta that all officials, even kings were liable for bad acts taken under the color of law.
And by the way, if it happens that DeSantis is the Republican nominee I will put way my objections and vote for him for President.
If it is Asa Hutchinson, I will have a couple of stiff drinks and vote for Joseph Robinette Biden.
Also, you know who should be making noise about the indictment, if only for his own protection, - George Bush. A Profile in Courage if ever there was one.
Blogger iowan2 said...
Strange and unique, because he is the most honest politician to ever set foot in DC.
With the added uniqueness of threatening to shut down the grift.
That was his first sin. Then he governed well in spite of the chaos around him. Then China "accidentally" released a virus that caused a world wide panic. Then Fauci, who directed funding for the creation of that virus, shut the economy down. Even then, Trump got 75 million votes.
Apparently Alvin Bragg just loves to prosecute people for non-existent crimes. Take the gun away from a person who just shot you and shoot him back with his own gun? Spend six days confined in Rikers Island after being arrested and charged with attempted murder. Before public outcry forces the charges being dropped. Of course, the assailant was also arrested. No word yet on when the charges are going to be reduced to jaywalking or completely dropped. Without public outcry.
Rele of law? In New York City? Dream on.
Republicans have been insisting that this is the last time Democrats will get away with X, and from here on out there will be consequences with the precedents they are setting, for decades.
Can't blame Dems for not taking it seriously.
Neither being strange nor unique is a crime. If it were, there would be a lot more people in our gulag.
"Every local prosecutor in the country will now feel that he or she has free rein to criminally investigate and prosecute presidents after they leave office."
Every Republican president, sure.
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