Tuesday 8 August 2023

Could the perceived rush to put Trump on trial before the election have serious consequences?

Viewed through the eyes of Donald Trump and every American who voted for him in 2020 and who plans to vote for him in 2024, the indictments and apparent rush to put the former president on trial well before the date of the election imply, nay prove, that the Biden adminisration and Justice Department are hellbent on getting him convicted and sentenced as quickly as possible. This may not be fair but it looks that way if you are a Trump-voting Republican. As a consequence you could argue - again if you a signed-up member of the Trump fan club - that every decision taken in relation to the charges levelled at Trump have been politically based and politically biased. Jack Smith, the special counsel appointed to investigate all the allegations against the former president, might argue - I don't know because I'm not sure anyone has asked him - that it was his duty to gather all the evidence and put it to a grand jury as swiftly as was appropriate and according to the legal responsibilities imposed on him and to ensure that trials be held in a manner and timing that matched the seriousness of the charges. In other words, he felt obliged to set a framework for trials that was both recognisably fair and acceptable to the defendant and to the prosecuting authorities. Delay for political reasons should not be considered, nor should an unseemly rush be allowed, also for political reasons. If this was Smith's thinking, then he cannot be accused of acting outside his remit in order to do President Biden a favour. But looked at from the Trump position, it could be argued that Smith was helping Biden to get reelected by his decision to cram all the indictments together well before the 2024 election, making it impossible for Trump to campaign without having the special counsel's Sword of Damocles hanging over his head. But then you have to ask: what if Smith had delayed all the decisions, and thus the trials, until after the 2024 election? Would that have been fairer to Trump? But what if he then lost to Biden? Trump's fans would scream that Smith and the Justice Department had conspired to get Trump defeated. Or what if Trump won the election? Could the trials go ahead with Trump as the elected president? Neither option would be good for the United States of America. So, the conclusion is, it's surely better to get the trials over and done with before the election. Then the voters can decide. Unfortunately, it still all smacks of politics.

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