#687 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday June 19)
Good morning,
First, today is Juneteenth, the middle holiday in this “Season of Freedom.” It began with Passover in April and continues through Independence Day in July. Freedom—whether of the body or the mind—for any person—is a reason for all of us to celebrate.
Juneteenth commemorates the date Union troops marched into Galveston, Texas, with the goal of enforcing the Emancipation Proclamation, after the end of the war. General Granger delivered the following “General Order 3”:
"The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer."
THE DEFENSES OF TRUMP AND HIS SUPPORTERS
Back to Trump. Some would argue that our national discussion needs to move away from this man. But how can he be avoided, when he offers our clearest path to authoritarianism and represents existential challenges to our systems, institutions, and public servants?
It’s time for Mar-a-Lago Part 2… It's sometimes helpful to consider the claims that his supporters are making. Here are a few of the claims, together with brief answers:
#1 THE FBI AND THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ARE WEAPONIZED
For all the complaining about the FBI being in the pocket of the left, the only case of the FBI materially interfering with an election was James Comey’s announcement of the investigation of Hillary Clinton, an action that essentially ensured Donald Trump’s election. If they’re really part of a conspiracy, they’re doing a terrible job.
Peter Baker notes in The New York Times that if there has been any weaponization of the Justice Department, it has been by Trump:
“As for seeking to weaponize the Justice Department, there was ample evidence that Mr. Trump sought to do just that while in office. He openly and aggressively pushed his attorneys general to prosecute his perceived enemies and drop cases against his friends and allies, making no pretense that he was seeking equal and independent justice. His friends-and-family approach to his pardon power extended clemency to associates and those who had access to him through them.
He chipped away at so many norms during his four years in office that it is no wonder that institutions have faced credibility problems. Indeed, he has made clear that he does not respect the boundaries that constrained other presidents. Since leaving office, he has called for “termination” of the Constitution so that he could be returned to power without waiting for another election and vowed that he would devote a second term to “retribution” against his foes while pardoning supporters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to stop the transfer of power.”
In the meantime, of course, President Biden has not been involved here and won’t even comment. There isn’t a single example of his interference. The case has been grinding slowly and carefully. And yet, prominent Republicans claim Mr. Biden is pushing the case, without a shred of evidence—and misleading the American public as to how cases are prosecuted and pursued. The President does not investigate wrongdoing, does not instruct the Attorney General, does not bring charges and does not indict (grand juries do).
#2 THE MEDIA IS OUT TO GET HIM
Virtually all of the various post-mortems on the 2016 election, from right and left, have concluded that the mainstream media, motivated more by ratings than truth, balance, or responsibility, gave Trump free wall-to-wall coverage not previously accorded to any presidential candidate. The mainstream media continue to allow him access for his continued lies, most recently evidenced by the made-for-Trump town hall, with a gallery of partisans hooting, hollering and laughing at the interviewer coming from his supporters. He continues to command the headlines and the media can’t resist.
#3 HIS REMARKS ABOUT AND TO WOMEN ARE OF NO MERIT
Okay, so this doesn’t apply to the classified documents case, the vote stealing case or the January 6th case, but there are other cases still brewing, so I’ll mention this complaint. I still don’t know how Trump managed to survive the Entertainment Tonight tape, but he did. He’s a known misogynist, a known abuser, unfaithful to his wives, and predatory in venues like the Miss USA pageant. As much as people want to claim the fix was in in the recent rape claim, it hardly was a left-wing conspiracy. A woman whom he attacked filed suit and a jury of his peers found the events occurred and ruled in her favor.
#4 THERE IS A VAST CONSPIRACY AGAINST HIM
Always a good go-to claim when the chips are down. My oh my, how these conspiracists have done such an excellent job in keeping their secrets all these years, In multiple states, with multiple voting systems, multiple prosecutors, multiple judges, and multiple politicians—all these people apparently are working together in some vast conspiracy to “get Donald Trump.” Enough has been written about the 60 lawsuits decided against Mr. Trump. The election was not stolen; and the fundraising to fight it was yet another Trumpian scam. Meanwhile, the magnitude and frequency of his wrongdoing has brought prosecutors, informants, juries, and grand juries around the country to find him worthy of indictment (and in some circumstances, conviction).
#5 HE’S BEEN SINGLED OUT
There is an argument that he wouldn’t be prosecuted if he weren’t who he is. While this claim might be made for the hush money case in New York, it cannot be made for this case or the civil suit against him or the civil action for sexual abuse in New York. As to the documents case, people go to prison for far less than Mr. Trump has done. David Leonhardt, of the New York Times, cites three (out of many) examples:
Form Air Force lieutenant Robert Birchum was sentenced three weeks ago to three years in jail for removing hundreds of secret documents, storing them at home.
Jeremy Brown, former member of U.S. Special Forces, was sentenced in April to seven years for, among other things, taking sensitive intelligence home.
In 2018, Mghia Hoang Phoe received 5 ½ years for storing NSA documents at home.
And don’t forget David Petraeus and John Deutch, both former heads of the CIA who were prosecuted…
#6 DON’T LOOK HERE; LOOK AT JOE BIDEN AND HUNTER BIDEN
Another great rhetorical device. Argue that nothing you have done is worse than “the other guy” or that the other guy has done so much more. The Hunter Biden claims have amounted to nothing—plus whatever he’s done, he’s not the president and no connection to Joe Biden has been established. I’m not sure what’s on that laptop, but they’re convinced it’s bad. What’s the likely result? That Hunter traded on his family name for business advantage. You know, sort of like Chelsea Clinton and Jenna Bush, who used their fame, together with their obvious talents, to further their careers. Or, more appropriately, Jared Kushner, who has leveraged his time in the Trump White House to further his business and, of all the many money managers in America, surprisingly was the Saudis’ choice to manage $2B of their investment funds.
#7 EVERYBODY TAKES DOCUMENTS
Trump and his supporters claim that everyone takes documents. As it turns out, former Vice-President Pence and President Biden are guilty of inadvertently taking classified documents. When they did, they self-reported and took steps to thoroughly search for documents and quickly turn them over. They didn’t retain them, they didn’t claim their return when asked to do so, they didn’t claim ownership or declassification. There is nothing that Pence and Biden did that even vaguely looks like the same case as Mr. Trump.
#8 THE JUDICIARY CAN’T BE TRUSTED
Despite every attempt by Mr. Trump and his acolytes, over dozens of cases before a variety of courts (including before many his own appointees), there has not been a single successful claim of judicial malfeasance. Mr. Trump continues to call them names, of course, but no claims have arisen. The only judge whose decision was universally disclaimed and mocked by legal scholars on the right and the left is Judge Aileen M. Cannon, a Trump appointee and partisan. You may recall that she appointed a special master in the documents case, despite specious reasoning and without precedent. This threw a wrench in the investigation and was viewed by many as partisan and without legal authority to back it up. The Court of Appeals, markedly conservative, overruled her and said she had no authority to intervene. In the meantime, a random assignment of the case threw the documents case right back in Judge Cannon’s courtroom.
#9 THIS WILL LEAD TO MORE POLITICAL PROSECUTIONS
Only if the Republicans want to go down this road. More on this in Wednesday’s third, and final, Musing on this case.
THE DOCKET
It’s sometimes instructive just to remind ourselves just how much this carnal, criminal narcissist has done. He may be found not guilty, of course, as I suspect we will be seeing a number of hung juries with “always Trumpers” in the jury pool. That said, “not guilty” is not the same as “innocent” or “exonerated” (no matter how many times Mr. Trump instructs us otherwise):
There is an adage, “where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” In the case of Mr. Trump, it is a veritable dumpster fire of allegations, all backed-up with logically consistent, clear fact patterns, of criminal behavior. There is a virtual docket of Trump matters that requires a scorecard in order to keep track. Let’s remind ourselves that none of the claims of Mr. Trump and his allies are that events didn’t occur; merely that they can be explained, are overblown, or are part of a “witch hunt.”
And still, he leads the Republican field for the presidential nomination. And his allies continue to indict the justice system.
This Wednesday (the day after tomorrow), Part 3 and the question of prosecuting a former president, the arguments for just letting things go, and the conservative case for prosecuting Trump.
Have a good day,
Glenn
From the archives: