Editorial: GOP leaders are playing with fire by impugning Trump indictment
The arraignment on Tuesday of Donald J. Trump will probably be a tragic day for the nation, and never solely as a result of a federal grand jury has issued a 37-count indictment of the previous president that William Barr, Trump’s former legal professional common, known as “very, very damning.” As stunning as the fees towards Trump are, it’s equally dismaying that some distinguished Republicans are rallying round Trump or impugning the investigation.
Trump was charged with willful retention of nationwide protection info; conspiracy to hinder justice; withholding a doc or report; corruptly concealing a doc or report; concealing a doc in a federal investigation; a scheme to hide; and false statements and representations.
The grand jury additionally indicted a Trump aide, Waltine “Walt” Nauta, on the identical prices aside from willful retention of nationwide protection info. In accordance with the indictment, Trump had Nauta transfer 64 bins out of a storage room at Mar-a-Lago so Trump may undergo the contents, and later returned solely 30 bins to the storage room. The indictment alleges that this info wasn’t disclosed to a Trump lawyer.
The indictment, which features a {photograph} of paperwork saved in a chandeliered lavatory, offers grist for comedians. However the prices towards Trump are lethal severe. Even when the previous president didn’t try to make use of delicate nationwide safety paperwork to make cash or for different nefarious functions, the recklessness and defiance described within the indictment are stunning.
In saying the indictment, Particular Counsel Jack Smith rightly emphasised that “the defendants on this case have to be presumed harmless till confirmed responsible past an affordable doubt in a courtroom of legislation.” However given the seriousness of the allegations, it was important that prices be filed regardless of Trump’s standing as a candidate for the presidency in 2024. Nobody ought to be capable to immunize himself or herself from prosecution just by operating for president.
However that actuality, distinguished Republicans have rushed to defend Trump or undermine the validity of the prosecution.
Home Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield), who has demeaned himself by toadying to Trump previously, tweeted this final week, earlier than the indictment was even unsealed: “Right this moment is certainly a darkish day for the US of America. It’s unconscionable for a president to indict the main candidate opposing him. Joe Biden stored labeled paperwork for many years. I, and each American who believes within the rule of legislation, stand with President Trump towards this grave injustice. Home Republicans will maintain this brazen weaponization of energy accountable.”
The place to start? Biden didn’t indict Trump. A grand jury did, after an investigation by a particular counsel appointed by Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland to make sure that the probe can be apolitical. President Biden, it seems, did retain some labeled paperwork after he left the vice presidency (and can also be being investigated by a particular counsel). However there is no such thing as a proof that Biden has engaged within the type of resistance Trump is accused of. Lastly, McCarthy’s risk to “maintain this brazen weaponization of energy accountable” is a reminder that the Republican majority he uneasily presides over has functioned for a while as an unofficial Trump protection workforce.
Barr — who was rightly criticized for appearing in Trump’s pursuits as legal professional common — supplied a scathing refutation of the notion that Trump is a sufferer of a political prosecution. “It’s a really detailed indictment. And it’s very, very damning,” Barr informed Fox Information on Sunday. “And this concept of presenting Trump as a sufferer right here, a sufferer of a witch hunt, is ridiculous. Sure, he’s been a sufferer previously. Sure, his adversaries have obsessively pursued him with phony claims, and I’ve been at his facet defending towards them when he’s a sufferer. However that is a lot totally different. He’s not a sufferer right here. He was completely improper that he had the best to have these paperwork.”
Whether or not Trump is criminally culpable will probably be determined by a jury. However Republicans who paint the previous president as a sufferer — or interact in reckless rhetoric about potential retribution towards prosecutors — are disserving the nation. The riot on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, illustrates the hazard when Trump’s most crazed supporters act on their delusions. Republican politicians will probably be enjoying with hearth in the event that they encourage comparable conspiracy theories about this indictment.
