Donald Trump, black swan that he is, could be another first for America: a former president tried, convicted and sent to prison.
He can yell “witch hunt” all he wants. But Trump has no one to blame but himself.
His arrogance, his malignant narcissism, his gargantuan ego – an ego that will not tolerate any kind of failure, whether it be his election loss or his son Donald Jr. four – all resulted in four indictments in four states, a total of 91 criminal charges.
Not to mention the civil case he lost in May against E. Jean Carroll found Trump guilty of sexual assault and libel. He was ordered to pay her $5 million in damages.
We New Yorkers know Trump better than the rest of the country, and believe me, nothing about his behavior is shocking.
Plans to send fake voter rolls? Account.
Attempt to hack voting machines? Account.
Ignore his then Vice President Mike Pence’s very good advice to accept that the election was over, instead listening to the unhinged, hair dye leaking Nosferatu that Rudy Giuliani has become? Account.
Donald Trump, black swan that he is, could be another first for America: a former president tried, convicted and sent to prison. He can yell “witch hunt” all he wants. But Trump has no one to blame but himself.
Fueling the January 6 uprising, storming out of the White House with classified documents and allegedly knowingly showing them to guests? Check, check, check.
Perhaps Trump’s greatest ploy – telling his supporters he is being persecuted for all of them, for America itself, as if he were Jesus and these accusers each a Pontius Pilate – has marked a particularly disgusting milestone in American politics.
And it’s brought to all of us, not by rampaging media, not by political enemies, but by the man himself, whose piggy behavior inside and outside the office threatens to cloud us all.
So yes, Monday was a sad and horrible day for the nation as Trump was accused in Georgia of stealing the 2020 election. But it was also a heartwarming day. After all, America prides itself on a fundamental idea: No one is above the law.
So why can’t our national psyche bear the idea of imprisoning a former commander in chief? Is it a stubborn belief in American exceptionalism? Resistance to staining our perfect record? Afraid that this would affect our position?
I claim it is the opposite. Trump is the inevitable manifestation of looking the other way. From minimizing.
Nixon wasn’t that long ago, and then-President Gerald Ford’s decision to pardon his predecessor was controversial for many years. Ford said pardoning Nixon, who also tried to interfere in presidential elections, was in the country’s best interest. But was it?
Forty of Nixon’s co-conspirators, including senior government officials, were convicted and sent to prison. Years later, polls showed that the majority of Americans opposed Ford’s pardon and believed that Nixon should have been tried for Watergate.
As the saying goes, absolute power absolutely corrupts. So why shouldn’t US presidents, the most powerful people on Earth, fall prey?
The Founding Fathers predicted so much. That is why our federal government is divided into three branches, one seemingly more powerful than the other.
The idea that a US president, sitting or former, should never be tried or convicted in a criminal court is baffling.
Monday was a sad and terrible day for the nation as Trump was accused in Georgia of stealing the 2020 election. But it was also a heartwarming day. After all, America prides itself on a fundamental idea: No one is above the law. (Pictured: Fulton County DA, Fani Willis).
So why can’t our national psyche bear the idea of imprisoning a former commander in chief? Is it a stubborn belief in American exceptionalism? Resistance to staining our perfect record? Afraid that this would affect our position?
If you refuse it, you’re encouraging any president to do whatever they want, whether it’s trying to overturn an election or fomenting an insurgency or diverting millions of dollars from foreign governments while using your son as the bagman and falconer, for example.
Speaking of, now that Trump has been charged with racketeering under the RICO statute, doesn’t it seem like Joe Biden and Hunter Biden could be charged the same way?
Biden the elder oversaw Ukraine’s foreign policy while Hunter snatched millions from Burisma, the country’s largest gas company.
Not to mention other foreign payouts that may or may not have ended up in Joe Biden’s account. But as a trusted Ukrainian-American FBI source reported, it could take the FBI “10 years” to find records of such payments made to Joe.
So this national allergy to prosecuting presidents has led us to this: two would-be criminals engulfed in scandal in 2024.
This is really, I think, what’s behind the fear and anxiety felt by voters. It’s not just about a 2020 repeat. We want better, less compromised options. Not too much to ask, right?
If these two end up being the nominees, I suspect America will be more ashamed of that than of criminal charges, trials, or convictions.
As for the argument that the justice system is politicized and weaponized, sometimes that’s true. But as we well know, what happens in the shadows is often worse – just look at J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI or James Comey’s.
It is also an insult to the American people, to voters, to grand juries and jurors, to think we cannot discern such things.
Alvin Bragg’s charge against Trump in New York — which amounts to hiding money for sex, and which is laughable given the sheer number of actual crimes Bragg refuses to prosecute — smells like week-old fish.
But Georgia RICO’s charges, including Trump’s taped phone call asking Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have,” feel valid and substantial.
On Tuesday, the morning after the indictment, Raffensperger issued a statement.
“The most fundamental principles of a strong democracy are accountability and respect for the Constitution and the rule of law,” he said. “You either have it or you don’t.”
Raffensperger is a Republican.
Other countries have dealt with their elected leaders, tried them and sent them to prison. Their democracies have survived – emerged even stronger.
Italy’s former Prime Minister, the late Silvio Berlusconi, was involved in 35 criminal cases, including bribery, tax fraud, abuse of office, witness tampering and paying for sex with an underage prostitute.
In 2012, he was convicted of tax evasion, sentenced to four years in prison and disbarred for six years.
So this national allergy to prosecuting presidents has led us to this: two would-be criminals engulfed in scandal in 2024. Still other countries have dealt with their elected leaders, tried them and sent them to prison. Their democracies have survived – emerged even stronger. (Pictured: Joe and Hunter Biden).
South Korea’s Supreme Court upheld former President Park Geun-hye’s 2021 conviction on bribery and corruption charges, as well as her $17 million fine. She is serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Former President of Taiwan Chen Shui-bian was convicted of corruption in 2008; he was released from prison in 2015 due to ill health. His successor, President Ma Ying-jeou, was sentenced to four months in 2018 for leaking classified information.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on trial for corruption, bribery and fraud.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was convicted of corruption and influence influencing in 2021; he lost his appeal in May this year and is under house arrest for a year.
So for all the hand-wringing about how a US president would even be imprisoned logistically – solitary confinement? Secret Service? Can we even survive seeing an orange jumpsuit or a mug shot? – there are plenty of examples of how to do it.
We need to grow up, get a grip, and accept that Trump might be convicted of federal crimes — and that could be a good thing, even a great thing. A cleansing, a purification, a purification. A warning to the next president, and the next.
Besides, if Trump or Biden were ever convicted, does anyone really think they’d go anywhere other than Club Fed or house arrest itself?
Please. Time served at Mar-a-Lago is not a harsh punishment.