I recently moved to a small rural town with a bit of a drug problem. Last week the Sheriff’s Office arrested 34 people for various drug, weapons, parole violations and other offenses. Since we have less than 3,500 folks in town, that’s about 1% of the residents. That’s how justice works for most people in America. You do something wrong, folks find out about it, cops show up, drag you away, throw you in jail and then you explain yourself to the judge. Doesn’t matter if your buddy says the fentanyl wasn’t yours, if you didn’t realize those weapons are illegal, or if you didn’t intend to break the law, you go to jail anyway.
That’s apparently not how the justice system works in DC. Trump cooperated with the Russians to win the 2016 election. The Russians bought ads on Facebook in rubles, they stole emails and used them in an onslaught of lies, and Trump’s campaign manager gave their campaign data to the GRU to help them with the attack. Trump lost that election too, but managed to win on technicalities. Trump cheated again in 2020, with Ukraine and more Russian lies and dark money. It was investigated, a few folks got sent to comfortable white collar facilities, and then Trump pardoned them. Trump also obstructed both investigations and incited an insurrection when he lost.
Any regular Americans who cheat, lie, break laws and resist arrest, go to jail and see a judge. Senators and Congressmen who block investigations, lie and helped provoke the insurrection don’t. Like Trump, the GOP games the system, with gerrymandered districts where white folk wait 5 minutes and black folk wait 5 hours to vote and then the GOP still wins most seats after losing the election. Subpoenas are ignored for years, financial crimes are off limits, reports are spun and redacted, obstruction works and cases are quietly dropped. Democracy is under attack, but does anyone really expect justice from our federal government—except for the common insurrectionists themselves?
Justice—especially fighting corruption—is the best way to defeat fascism, but the best we can hope for is that Manhattan’s DA gets Trump on tax evasion? Federal law is plain enough. The President can’t take any gifts or compensation from any foreign or domestic states, except that Trump did and got away with it. Trump extorted Ukraine, looted his inauguration fund, has been accused of multiple assaults, illegally campaigned from government property, has not reported valuable favors he received while campaigning, and pressured election officials to overturn the results. Nobody can pressure witnesses, except Trump. Nobody can work against the interests of the US and give aid to hostile foreign powers that attack us, except Trump. Nobody can advocate for the overthrow of our government, except that Flynn did and will get away with it. The law is there, but for all sorts of technical reasons it just doesn’t mean what it says anymore.
The President is not supposed to be above the law, the Presidency is not supposed to operate on the honor system, and our country was supposedly founded with a Constitution that prevents another tyrant from taking power. But Trump proved that fairy tale is all wrong. Backed by a minority of Senators from many of the smallest states, Trump not only repeatedly broke many laws, but he got away with it from beginning to end. If a poor man breaks the law once, he’s punished. If a rich and powerful man breaks the law a hundred times, he might get suspended from social media, temporarily, after he leaves office. “Justice delayed is justice denied”. We’re still peasants ruled by the law, and the nobility still own the law.
I say all this as an optimist by nature and a realist by training. The Trump era was devastating. I had hoped the US would heed Obama’s call to confront racism, but I was disappointed. I had hoped the US would take the dramatic steps to fight the climate crisis, but I was disappointed. I had hoped the US would take Covid seriously from the start, but I was disappointed. I had hoped the US would neither elect Trump nor acquit him, but I was disappointed. I had hoped that the DOJ would prioritize prosecuting the ex-President, and I am seriously disappointed.
Joe’s Covid relief is already a bigger and better accomplishment than anything Trump signed, so I remain hopeful with a literal shot in the arm from a new President. I understand that Joe needs to rebuild everything Trump broke, but Joe also needs to deliver more than one relief package to restore our faith in government. I am hopeful, but wary of being disappointed again.
The DOJ is dithering and dilly-dallying instead of going after Trump’s definite crimes. I know the DOJ is supposed to be independent of political pressure, but most of the best independent legal minds in the country have called for stronger actions to defend democracy and the rule of law. If the DOJ sees any part of its job as protecting either its own incompetence or the prestige of the office of the Presidency, then that culture needs to change entirely. They are neither cover-up artists nor boot-lickers. They should not take a back seat to state and local investigations. They should not wait and see. They should not defend Trump’s abuse of office in attacking Carroll. They should not defend Barr’s corruption and hide his memos. If they need to hire more lawyers to charge every single crime committed by Team Trump, then they need to do so 100 days ago.
My sheriff got help from probation officers and local park rangers to put 1% of my town in jail. The folks in DC have a billion times the resources that he does, and yet the only arrests are the common insurrectionists. Where’s the urgent clarion trumpet call of Justice? Where’s the sword?