It’s Time For Trump To Face The Music
Fred Wertheimer’s Weekly Note | April 28, 2022
It’s time for former President Trump to face the music.
The rule of law is a cornerstone of our democracy. “Nobody is above the law” is a fundamental tenet of our legal system.
Trump believes otherwise.
Trump’s views about complying with laws were succinctly captured during the 2016 presidential campaign when he said, “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?”
While this seemed like a joke to his supporters, Trump was revealing his belief system.
Trump went on to become a lawless President.
Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution defines Impeachment as “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
Trump is the only President (or other federal official) in our nation’s history to be impeached twice.
Trump is the only person in our nation’s history to lead an illicit coup attempt to steal the presidency.
Trump is the only American in our nation’s history to trigger a violent insurrectionist attack on our Capitol.
The House Jan. 6 Committee is examining the facts and circumstances surrounding the attack on the Capitol and the events leading up to it.
U.S. District Court Judge David Carter has already reached his conclusion. In a recent opinion Carter wrote: “Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021.”
Trump’s goal was clear: to steal the presidential election from duly elected Joe Biden and install himself as President for a second term.
It will be up to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department to decide whether to indict and prosecute Trump for his actions in leading an attempted coup and the attack on the Capitol.
These are not the only criminal issues facing Trump.
In Georgia, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is investigating whether Trump engaged in criminal conduct in his efforts to overturn the presidential election results in Georgia. A grand jury to be seated in May will examine the case.
Of special interest is Trump’s request to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” for Trump, which would have given him one more than Joe Biden received in Georgia. Obviously, this had nothing to do with seeking an accurate vote and everything to do with Trump attempting to manipulate the vote to steal the election.
In that same conversation, Trump implied that Raffensperger and his chief lawyer could face criminal prosecution by the Justice Department if they failed to comply with Trump’s request – an effort by Trump to extort the vote count he sought.
In New York, Trump’s private financial transactions are under investigation by State Attorney General Letitia James. The civil investigation, which is almost complete, involves whether Trump and the Trump Organization provided false information about their assets, sometimes increasing the value of the assets to gain favorable loans and decreasing the value of the same assets for tax purposes.
A separate three-year criminal investigation of these same matters by former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance was killed by a newly elected D.A., Alvin Bragg, after Vance had recommended proceeding with the case.
Mark Pomerantz, a lead prosecutor in the case, resigned after Bragg’s surprising decision. Pomerantz wrote a blistering letter to Bragg stating: “The team that has been investigating Mr. Trump harbors no doubt about whether he committed crimes — he did.”
The walls may finally be closely in on Trump.
Trump must be held accountable for leading a coup attempt, a criminal conspiracy, and an insurrectionist attack on the Capitol in his unsuccessful attempt to steal the presidency.
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Fred’s Weekly Note appears each Thursday in Wertheimer’s Political Report, a Democracy 21 newsletter. Read this week’s newsletter here. And, subscribe for free here and receive your copy each week via email.
