The People of the State of New York vs. Donald J. Trump reads like a criminal case wannabe. Perhaps with enough ominous sounding words—fraudulently falsified, criminal conduct—the reader could be convinced of Trump’s felonious deeds.
Good try, but the layering of charges and the strained attempt to link the false accounting of the payment to a porn star Trump reportedly had a fling with to a campaign expenditure leaves independent minded observers wondering collectively, “Is that it?”
Perhaps Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is a stickler for the rule of law and believes that no criminal behavior can go unpunished. Or, more likely, Bragg was feeling the pressure to produce on a campaign promise to pursue Trump.
Many legal minds agree; at best, Trump is potentially guilty of misdemeanors, but getting this case to rise to a felony is a legal long shot. When bringing a criminal charge against a former President for the first time in the country’s history, one should have more than record keeping infractions to cover up hush money to a momentary mistress.
The indictment feels like just another fateful step in a dissolution of our democracy. Hillary Clinton said Trump was an “illegitimate” President and Nancy Pelosi disrespectfully tore up Trump’s State of the Union speech.
Trump indulged crowds when they chanted for Clinton to be locked up. He continues to make the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen. He incited an angry crowd that contributed to the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol to try to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power.
And now, like some banana republic, a left-wing prosecutor is using his power to target a political enemy. With that Rubicon crossed, one can reasonably expect a right-wing prosecutor to try to do same against Joe Biden or some other Democrat.
Rome may not be burning, but the kindling is dry and there are fire starters everywhere.
Trump, himself, is more than willing to set the blaze. He has proven time and again that he is an imperious man-child, given to base impulses and intemperate behavior. His speech Tuesday night following his indictment was his typical laundry list of grievances. He is making good on his promise of “retribution.”
How can we govern in this environment? Everything is viewed through the warped lens of hostility and the accumulation of power for its own sake. The other side isn’t just wrong, it is evil and the ends justify the means to winning.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform Saturday that the United States is “a Nation in Decline” and a “THIRD WORLD COUNTRY.” He intended the rant as criticism of the Manhattan District Attorney and the grand jury indictment.
Unintentionally, he was correct about the worsening state of our politics in general and his own significant role in that degradation. And Bragg’s flimsy indictment is just another step down that degenerative path.