Donald Trump raised the hopes of a skeptical nation Saturday March 18, when he claimed on his failing social media platform that he would be arrested on the following Tuesday, March 21, for one of the many crimes grand juries are investigating in various jurisdictions.
Trump’s rambling ALL-CAPS message on “Truth Social” refers to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s expected indictment of Trump in connection to payments his lawyer made to two women in 2016, when Trump was running for president. Trump refused to testify before the Manhattan grand jury investigating those payments, which include $130,000 paid to adult film actor Stormy Daniels to buy her silence during the campaign, which would be a violation of election law. “WE MUST SAVE AMERICA!” Trump wrote on “Truth Social,” urging them to “PROTEST, PROTEST, PROTEST!!!” and “TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” sparking fears of more right-wing violence in a repeat of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
In an internal email following Trump’s statements, Bragg said law enforcement would ensure that the 1,600 people who work in his office would remain safe, and that “any specific or credible threats” would be investigated.
“We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York,” Bragg wrote, adding: “In the meantime, as with all of our investigations, we will continue to apply the law evenly and fairly, and speak publicly only when appropriate.”
As news spread of Trump’s imminent arrest, however, it appeared that Trump was merely anticipating arrest. New York law enforcement authorities were making security plans for the possibility that Trump would be indicted, and barricades were installed near the Criminal Courts Building in New York City March 20, but a Trump spokesman said there was no notification of a pending arrest and the grand jury was still hearing witnesses. It was unlikely an indictment would be issued March 21, but it is expected to happen soon.
Trump may have been attempting to mount a pre-emptive defense by stirring his seditionist White supremacist supporters to issue threats against Bragg, who is Black. Trump also was ginning up contributions from those who have supported him through the past seven years of scandals.
But Republicans in Congress aren’t waiting for the Manhattan indictment to emerge before they start obstructing the prosecution of Trump. House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer and House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil sent a letter to Bragg March 20 demanding that the DA turn over all information about his investigation and testify before Congress. In a letter to Bragg, they call his investigation of Trump an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority”— even though Congress has no authority over state courts or district attorneys and Bragg’s office receives negligible federal funds.
The Georgia Legislature’s Republican majority also is working on legislation that would allow Republicans to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, another Black Democratic prosecutor, who is thought to be nearing indictment of Trump on voter fraud charges for his attempt to get state officials to overturn Georgia election results.
Willis also has indicated that she is considering bringing charges under Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. RICO laws make it easier to go after organized criminal enterprises, and can be used against members of any group that engaged in a pattern of criminal activities with a common purpose. A conviction would carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Federal Special Prosecutor Jack Smith also is leading investigations into Trump’s involvement in promoting the Jan. 6 coup attempt and his handling of highly classified government documents that were found at his resort at Mar-A-Lago, after Trump resisted efforts by government officials to get him to surrender the documents.
Unauthorized retention of national security documents could result in up to 10 years in prison for each document. Concealing records to obstruct an official effort could result in 20 years per offense. Concealment or destruction of official documents, whether or not they were related to national security — and Trump was notorious for ripping up government documents — could result in three years per offense.
The House Jan. 6 Committee last year argued Trump could be prosecuted on a charge of attempted corrupt obstruction of an official proceeding, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, for his role in summoning of supporters to Washington and urging them to march on the Capitol and “fight like hell.”
The committee also viewed as criminal obstruction the scheme to recruit “fake electors” from various states and pressuring Vice President Pence to cite their existence as a basis to delay certifying the election, even though Trump had been told that there was no truth to his claims of a stolen election. Trump could also be charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to make false statements with the efforts to submit slates of false electors.
Is it worth it to break the tradition of ignoring crimes committed by presidents during their terms in office? We think Trump has abused the privilege, and he needs to answer for his many crimes.
Trump, who is revered by right-wing Christians, has cheated on all three of his wives so far, including affairs with porn star Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal in 2006, a year after he married Melania and just months after she gave birth to Barron.
Trump is expected to be charged in connection with $280,000 in payments his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, made to Daniels and McDougal to buy their silence before the 2016 election. The Trump Organization reimbursed Cohen $420,000 and called it a legal fee.
The investigation turned up evidence Trump had been aware of the payments, despite his initial public claims he knew nothing about them. On a recording he reportedly can be heard speaking to Cohen about efforts to buy McDougal’s continued silence.
Trump has cheated on taxes in New York State, as well as the federal government, when he wrote off the hush money payoffs as legal expenses, which also violated state and federal election laws, and he understated the value of his properties for tax purposes. New York Attorney General Letitia James, who also happens to be Black, is suing Trump’s company in state court for fraud.
For what it’s worth, Trump also has cheated his seditionist supporters. Jesse Kelly, a syndicated right-wing radio host, urged Trump supporters to stay away from any protests on his behalf. In a tweet, Kelly complained that Trump had not helped with the legal bills of those involved in the Jan. 6 “protests.” “The last time Trump’s biggest fans protested on his behalf, he left them all to rot in jail without so much as a penny from him in legal fees. Not a penny. Shame on him for this. Do NOT go to a blue area and protest for this man.”
If Trump is indicted, turns himself in and makes bail, his first large rally of the 2024 campaign as a defendant was planned for March 25 in Waco, Texas, on the 30th anniversary of the federal government’s deadly siege of a compound near Waco run by the Branch Davidian religious sect. That should appeal to Trump’s right-wing cult members and their sense of grievance. — JMC
From The Progressive Populist, April 15, 2023
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