Photo via Donald Trump - donaldtrump.com
Donald Trump on phone
Donald Trump
Much of the news media continues to perpetuate Donald Trump’s lie that his current criminal trial involves one of his least consequential criminal indictments. Like most Trump’s lies, that’s demonstrably false.
No one would argue Trump paying off a porn star to cover up a sleazy sexual encounter is as significant as his indictments for attempting to violently overthrow democracy after losing the 2020 election and for stealing top-secret government documents.
But there is nothing inconsequential about the crimes Trump is charged with committing as a presidential candidate in 2016. They were part of a desperate coverup at an explosive moment a month before the election that should have destroyed any possibility of Trump ever being elected president. “October surprise” is a political cliché that usually refers to a last-minute dirty trick by an election opponent that dooms a candidate’s chances. The October surprise for Republicans during the 2016 campaign came directly from Trump’s own mouth.
Access Hollywood Infamy
The source was the “Access Hollywood” tape of Trump privately bragging to an NBC video crew filming a promotion for “The Apprentice” that as a celebrity he regularly got away with grabbing any woman he wanted by the genitals. If Trump boasting about his vile behavior had been followed by his further adventures with a porn star, there might very well have been no Trump presidency.
That should make Trump’s long overdue trial for his election crimes in 2016 historically consequential enough for anyone. If Trump’s falsification of business records to cover up his payoff to Stormy Daniels hadn’t succeeded, American history could be very different.
The obvious question about the prosecution is why has it taken so long? The obvious answer is Trump’s corrupt presidency. Trump’s Atty. Gen. William Barr intervened back in 2019 to limit prosecution to Trump fixer Michael Cohen for paying off Daniels even though prosecutors determined Cohen was acting at Trump’s direction.
|
|
Trump’s corruption of the criminal justice system continues to threaten the rule of law in America. Trump’s majority justices on the Supreme Court hearing his absurd claim that presidents should be immune from prosecution for committing crimes and an incompetent Trump appointee presiding over his trial for stealing classified documents are intentionally delaying those cases to prevent Trump from being convicted before November.
Trial by Jury
That’s the other reason Trump’s trial before New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan is so important. It’s likely to be Trump’s only criminal trial to be decided by a jury before the presidential election.Trump has always loved being the center of attention in any crowd, but he’s already starting to hate being a criminal defendant. The final word on everything Trump can say and do in that room will be Judge Merchan.
Merchan has already demonstrated he’s a “no-nonsense” judge. He publicly chastised Trump for “audibly uttering something” and gesturing in the direction of a juror who was responding to questions. “I will not have any jurors intimidated in the courtroom,” Merchan said. “I will not tolerate that.”
One of the most important moments after Monday’s opening arguments will be a hearing Tuesday on Trump’s repeated violations of Merchan’s gag order barring Trump from attacking witnesses, prosecutors and family members of the judge and Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg.
It could determine whether Merchan can enforce his own orders and control his own courtroom. That’s something experienced criminal judges like Merchan rarely have any difficulty doing. Trump could be reduced to exactly what he is, an ordinary criminal defendant, a lot faster than he thinks.
Sex Sells
The irony is Trump’s criminal trial for his conspiracy with the National Enquirer to prevent voters from learning about Trump cavorting with Stormy Daniels that the media trivializes as a “hush money” case could have a much larger national audience than Trump’s weightier indictments for his violent insurrection or his theft of classified documents.
The reason is obvious. Sex sells. It’s the same reason those rightwing Moms for Liberty book burners who want to ban school and public libraries from informing their children about the existence of human sexuality are doomed to fail. Adolescents with access to computers already know more about sex in all its varieties than their parents.
For the next two months, everyone tuning into the sleazy sexual adventures of their former president is going to see a pretty unimpressive criminal defendant on trial. It’s an historic trial though. In states where Republicans allow American history to be taught, it will help answer the question of future generations: How in the world could such a man ever be elected president of the United States?
Most Americans still want to be proud of their president and their country. Four years ago when most of us celebrated getting rid of the guy really wasn’t all that long ago. Apparently, we need to do it all over again to stop Republicans from nominating him.
