In a recent interview on Fox News, former President Donald Trump spoke out about the ongoing ordeal he faced after being arraigned in Manhattan, New York, earlier this month. It’s important to examine the details of this case, as it reveals a troubling trend of weaponizing the justice system against political opponents, specifically targeting conservatives like Trump.
The 45th president faces 34 charges related to allegations of falsifying business records in connection with the Stormy Daniels hush money case. Despite these allegations, many legal experts, including Greg Jarret, argue that Trump did nothing wrong. In the interview, Trump expressed his innocence and gratitude for the support he received from police officers and courthouse workers, who were even brought to tears by the situation.
Many people have pointed out the weakness of District Attorney Alvin Bragg‘s case against Trump. Ian Millhiser, a senior correspondent at Vox, noted the anticlimactic nature of the indictment, which pertains not to any alleged political misconduct but to an alleged extramarital affair. Millhiser also highlighted the potential for the case to end in an even bigger anticlimax, given the uncertainty about whether the felony statute Trump is accused of violating even applies to him.
Mark Stern, a writer for the liberal outlet Slate, published a story titled, “The Trump Indictment Is Not the Slam-Dunk Case Democrats Wanted.” This sentiment was echoed by John Bolton, who served as a national security adviser in the Trump administration and has since come out against Trump’s 2024 campaign. In an appearance on CNN, Bolton criticized the charges filed against the former president, calling the indictment “even weaker than I feared it would be.”
Even Sen. Mitt Romney, a notorious anti-Trump GOP figure, questioned the validity of the charges, stating that while he believes Trump’s character and conducts make him unfit for office, the New York prosecutor has stretched to reach felony criminal charges in order to fit a political agenda. Romney emphasized the importance of equal treatment under the law and warned against the dangerous precedent of criminalizing political opponents, which he believes damages the public’s faith in the justice system.
In an interview with Fox News, George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley said that the case is “outrageous”:
“[Bragg] is attempting to bootstrap [a] federal crime into a state case. And if that is the basis for the indictment, I think it’s rather outrageous,” the professor said.
“I think it’s illegally pathetic,” he said. “There’s a good reason why the Department of Justice did not prosecute this case: Because it’s been down this road before. It tried a case against former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards arguing that hush money paid to another woman, who bore a child out of that relationship, was a campaign violation. That was a much stronger case, but they lost,” Turley said, referring to federal prosecutors not charging Trump following Cohen’s guilty plea.
“Bragg’s betting on a motivated judge and a motivated juror. You couldn’t pick a better jurisdiction…. [But] under Bragg’s theory, he can take any unproven federal crime and revive a long-dead misdemeanor and turn it into a felony. That’s going to raise concerns for a number of judges. But once it gets to the appellate level, he’s going to have a particularly difficult time,” he said.
It’s crucial that we take note of these instances where the justice system appears to be weaponized against us for political reasons. The Trump indictment is just one example of this trend, and it’s essential that we continue to advocate for fairness and equal treatment under the law, regardless of one’s political affiliations. This case demonstrates the need to remain vigilant against the threat of our justice system being misused as a tool for partisan warfare.
WATCH The video below for more details:
Sources: Conservativebrief, Vox
