Donald Trump, convicted felon!
I was convinced there would be at least one holdout, making this a hung jury. I was wrong. But rarely have I been so happy to be proven so.
Donald J. Trump has made history by breaking all kinds of presidential norms. So perhaps it’s fitting that he has made history again by becoming the first ex-president to be convicted of a felony crime.
Today, a jury of 12 New Yorkers convicted him on all 34 felony counts of falsifying records. They accepted the prosecutors’ argument that he falsified those records as part of a scheme to defraud the American people.
Prosecutors argued that he wanted to cover up disclosure that he had sex with a porn star, which threatened to derail his fledgling 2016 presidential campaign.
But, truth be told, I’ve said enough. Haven’t we all? But thank God there will be no Trumanesque photo-op for Trump to hold up The New York Times no less with “Not Guilty” emblazoned across its front page.
Trump’s only defense: The system is corrupt
Of course, this is just another form of his congenital projection. But I’d be remiss not to note that Trump is trying his damnedest to corrupt the criminal justice system the way he corrupted business practices and presidential politics.
Indeed, he had already been found guilty of a $450m fraud like nobody had ever seen. And he was impeached twice. Now this.
Every day during his trial, this congenitally corrupt SOB stood outside the courtroom, spewing rhetoric to nullify the pending verdict. Just yesterday, he upped his nullification game by whining that even Mother Teresa couldn’t beat the charges he faced.
That has to be the hugest humble brag anyone has ever heard. Of course, she was never a selfish hedonist who paid a porn star for sex and then paid more to cover it up to win a presidential election. So…
Republicans rally round felon Don
Trump wants to convince his MAGA supporters that New York City, where he made his fame and fortune, is not a place where he can get a fair trial. As far as this wannabe autocrat is concerned, the only fair trial would have a judge he appointed and a jury of MAGA worshipers who think he’s the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Ominously, he has leading members of the Republican Party helping him propagate this autocratic absurdity. This explains their rush to outdo each other by parroting dystopian versions of Trump’s rhetoric of nullification and insurrection:
“The justice system is corrupt;” “The case was rigged;” “New Yorkers hate Trump;” “This was Biden’s DOJ weaponizing justice;” “This was the most shameful day in American history;” etc.
Republicans couldn’t care less that this same system acquitted Trump’s friend Tom Barrack of using Trump’s presidency to act as a foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates. Moreover, it’s the same system that is now prosecuting President Biden’s own son Hunter on felony gun charges. He too is making history as the first child of a sitting US president to face criminal trial.
But Americans should beware: These Republicans are showing how democratic Germany became Hitler’s autocracy. Because their visceral reactions reveal they would willfully enable Trump to emulate Hitler by turning democratic America into Trump’s autocracy.
Michael Cohen’s revenge
It’s too bad that a jail sentence is not a real possibility. But “Donald Trump, convicted felon” will do.
Michael Cohen, his one-time fixer and the star witness for the prosecution, infamously said he wanted revenge for the way Trump betrayed his trust and service.
Well, like Cohen’s revenge, justice too might be a dish best served cold.
Trump’s racism coming home to roost
Finally, racism figures prominently in much of what Trump says and does. So I’d also be remiss not to note that Black Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg now joins Black NY AG Letitia James in holding Trump accountable.
Meanwhile, Black Fulton County DA Fani Willis and DC District Judge Tanya Chutkan are waiting to do the same. I won’t comment any further, lest I appear to be gloating…too soon.
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