The Text
Damn – I promised myself I wouldn’t do this. But the news is too current and significant to let this “Tweet” (or “Truth-less”) pass. Here’s the text. Donald Trump writes in all capitals. It was on his site “Truth Social”; posted at 7am on Saturday, March 18th.
“OUR NATION IS NOW THIRD WORLD & DYING. THE AMERICAN DREAM IS DEAD! THE RADICAL LEFT ANARCHISTS HAVE STOLLEN (sic) OUR PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION, AND WITH IT, THE HEART OF OUR OUR (sic) COUNTRY. AMERICAN PATRIOTS ARE BEING ARRESTED & HELD IN CAPTIVITY LIKE ANIMALS, WHILE CRIMINALS & LEFTIST THUGS ARE ALLOWED TO ROAM THE STREETS, KILLING & BURNING WITH NO RETRIBUTION. MILLIONS ARE FLOODING THROUGH OUR OPEN BOARDERS (sic), MANY FROM PRISONS & MENTAL INSTITUTIONS. CRIME & INFLATION ARE DESTROYING OUR VERY WAY OF LIFE…
NOW ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE, WHICH HAS ALLOWED NEW RECORDS TO BE SET IN VIOLENT CRIME & WHOSE IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS, INDICATE THAT, WITH NO CRIME ABLE TO BE PROVEN, & BASED ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMBEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRYTALE, THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!”
Indictment
Donald Trump says he’s going to be arrested and arraigned on Tuesday in Manhattan. He may have specific knowledge of this. Common practice for “white collar” crime is for the defendant to voluntarily turn himself into the Court. Since Trump is in Florida, his lawyers would have prior notice so that Trump could travel to Manhattan.
Or, he might simply be “preempting” the Manhattan DA in order to get ahead of the news coverage. In his tweet, Trump called for protests, claimed that District Attorney Bragg is linked to billionaire George Soros, and called the possible charges debunked and fairy tales. He raised the threat of public violence if the Manhattan DA brings the charges.
Meanwhile the MAGA caucus of the House of Representatives jumped on the Trump bandwagon. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy called for House investigations of the Manhattan DA, and the real leader of the House Republicans, Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene, called possible charges “political” and “dangerous”.
Strategic Leaks
I hope that Trump’s right. I look forward to a demonstration of justice, where every American can be assured that we are “Equal before the Law”. But, to be honest, we are in the midst of a full orchestration of MAGA activities. First, Speaker McCarthy released thousands of hours of video from January 6th solely to Tucker Carlson at Fox. Carlson selectively edited that footage to “demonstrate” that the Insurrection was really not a “bad” thing. Carlson’s message: don’t believe your lying eyes from that tragic day, it was really just an extended “tourist” excursion into the building.
Second, the Trump campaign scheduled a rally in Waco, Texas near the thirtieth anniversary of the David Koresh/Branch Davidian standoff against Federal authorities. That weeks-long conflict ended with the Davidians burning down their own buildings, and killing seventy-six of their own men, women and children. Four Federal Agents were also killed in the standoff, and numerous others wounded. The site has become a “shrine” for those opposed to Federal authorities (Time), and Trump is wrapping himself in the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag.
Third, the MAGA Republicans in the House were quick to take steps to delegitimize the investigations of Trump, in Manhattan, Atlanta, and Washington DC. It took them less than a couple of hours. They clearly are prepared for indictment, and Trump’s tweet was a call to action. Saturday’s reactions were pre-planned.
Eating Cake
One Republican talking point is already getting traction: this is “old news”. We knew about Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen and the payoff checks years ago. Why is it just now, 2023, a year before another Presidential election that Alvin Bragg is bringing charges? Is this an example of “Justice delayed, justice denied”?
The payoff happened in the fall of 2016. It came into the public news in January of 2018. Originally it was a Federal case in the Southern District of New York, who charged and convicted Michael Cohen. Trump’s name was never in Cohen’s legal documentation, but everyone knew who “Individual One” was. Like the fifth “un-indicted co-conspirator” in the original Watergate indictment, the Department of Justice would not name a sitting President in criminal proceedings.
Trump was President until January 20, 2021, three years after the “Porn Star” story broke. And it took some time after to realize that even the Biden Justice Department wasn’t going to pursue charges, though Cohen was sentenced to three years in jail. It was only then that the Manhattan District Attorney’s office took on the case. Justice wasn’t delayed, it was deferred by Trump’s status and his ally, former Attorney General Bill Barr.
Show Trial
And make no mistake: if indicted the Trump team will make this into a “show trial”, with Trump as the ultimate “victim”. They’re going to “prove” that there is a “Democrat-Anarchist-Soros” conspiracy to stop his candidacy. A Trump “perp walk”, preferably with handcuffs, will play right into his public relations ploy. It will solidify his supporters, perhaps even bringing them into the streets reminiscent of their now “Carlson cleansed” Insurrection.
What can Trump’s opponents for the Republican candidacy for President say other than supporting Trump’s actions? Even former Vice President Pence, threatened with death in the real Insurrection, spoke out against indictment (and looked incredibly weak saying “it’s not what the American people want to see”). Any statement to the contrary, and he and the rest of the candidates would lose the MAGA majority of the Republican Party. That group still controls the primary vote to choose the nominee.
It always goes back to the original Trump plan decades ago: better to get bad publicity, than no publicity at all. And for Saturday’s news cycle, Trump “won”; probably for Sunday and Monday too. He got what he wanted, and he wanted what he got (sorry for messing that quote up – Mr. Miranda!).
But I will say this – I am “clearing the decks” this week for a Presidential indictment. It’s American History: like Nixon’s resignation, Clinton’s Impeachment trial, and the two Trump Impeachment trials. A President, even a former one, will present himself to a Court for judgment. With all the concerns about violence and upheaval, in the end it shows our government exercise its ultimate power – the rule of law. A former chief executive called to the “bar” by the Judiciary is the final “check and balance”.
Ain’t that America?
