Despite what you might have heard from right-wing media, Democrats are not “weaponizing” the law to “persecute” Donald Trump and “sabotage” his bid to return to the White House.
Rather — at long last — the legal system is finally holding accountable this former Republican President who talks like a mob boss.
Arrogantly refusing to accept his defeat to President Joe Biden in 2020, Trump vows vengeance, hints at armed rebellion, and lures feckless flunkies into his spider web of cheating and deceit. Now, he must answer for it in four different courtrooms.
Does all this legal stuff infringe on the third Presidential campaign of this loud, large, orange-faced, yellow-haired demagogue?
Of course it does. Criminal charges almost always interfere with people’s plans. But legitimate prosecution is not the same as “campaign interference.”
But aren’t these prosecutions “outrageous” and “unprecedented?”
That’s partly right. Trump’s behavior is outrageous and unprecedented. We’ve never before suffered anything like him in the Oval Office.
One final question. When sore-loser Trump sent a rioting lynch mob to the Capitol on Jan. 6 to murder his vice-president and overturn an honest election, does that qualify as an “insurrection” against the established government of the United States of America?
Trump’s behavior is outrageous and unprecedented. We’ve never before suffered anything like him in the Oval Office.
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That’s a question that vexes Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, who is Michigan’s Secretary of State. She is one of her rank in several states to contemplate this issue that could bump Trump off the ballot and enrage his armed supporters even without a trial or conviction.
According to multiple scholars both liberal and conservative, Trump cannot serve again because — according to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution — he “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against his government and gave “aid and comfort” to rioters.
If Trump is denied a spot on the ballot in Michigan or in another swing state, it will be up to officials like Benson to take the first step in a dispute that may land in the black-robed laps of the Trump-packed Supreme Court.
“We recognize the serious legal arguments regarding candidate eligibility and the 14th Amendment,” Benson said in a statement released by her office. “Important questions remain. As facts and court proceedings continue to unfold, we will proceed and make all decisions from a position of what the law and Constitution requires.”
Benson’s office did not respond to requests for further comment.
But she spoke at length on the subject two weeks ago in an interview on MSNBC. Benson promised then to take up the issue with peers including Brad Raffensberger of Georgia, Cisco Aguilar of Nevada, and Al Schmidt of Pennsylvania.
“Secretaries of State may be the first to act on these issues but we won’t be the last word,” Benson said on TV. “We recognize the four of us will likely need to act in concert if we act at all.”
She said leaving a name off a ballot would bring lawsuits. Local activist Robert Davis has threatened his own lawsuit to force her hand.
“It will be up to the courts to decide, likely the Supreme Court,” Benson said. “ . . . We know the impact that this decision can have not just among our voters but in the nation. And so we’re taking this seriously. We’re looking at it carefully. And we’re weighing all of the thorny issues at play.”
Benson said decisions must be legal — not political — and observe due process. She said a conviction is typically used to determine ballot ineligibility. But she offered as many questions as answers. Trump has not been charged with insurrection.
“If we’re not going to predicate this on a conviction under the law, then how do we ensure due process?” she asked. “How do we define ‘insurrection’ or ‘rebellion?’ Who makes that determination?”
She added that future political leaders might weaponize such disqualification precedents “in this era of false equivalency.”
Among all the battleground states harassed by Trump and his minions following his 2020 defeat, one fighting back is Michigan, empowered in recent years with female Democratic leadership.
Ahead of other states, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged the “Cheat Sixteen” of fake Republican electors who pretended to represent Michigan on behalf of Trump to the Electoral College.
One of their boosters and backers, according to the Detroit News, was Robert Norton, vice-president and general counsel for Hillsdale College, who urged the frauds to hide out overnight in the Capitol building in Lansing. They didn’t. The next day, state cops kept them from crashing the gate.
Nessel at first had urged the federal Justice Department to take the case, but she took it back from meek Merrick Garland, the U.S. attorney general too timid for too long to take on Trump. One reason for Garland’s weak effort is the undercurrent of menace that thumps like a drum in the Trump cult.
For instance: In a recent podcast, host Tucker Carlson asked Trump if he thought a civil war is impending, as is forecast in the dark corners of the internet.
Instead of answering directly, Trump replied in that vague, menacing way he does when he says “stand back and stand by” to violent, white supremacist militias who support him.
“There is a level of passion that I’ve never seen, there is a level of hatred that I’ve never seen,” Trump said. “And that’s a bad combination.”
He didn’t need to mention that he’s the one stirring the hate pot to a boil. Trump’s words resonate through a state like Michigan, where guns only recently were banned from the Capitol building because right-wing goons brought rifles to intimidate lawmakers.
In this same Great Lakes State, extremists planned to kidnap and kill the current governor, Gretchen Whitmer. Those trials continue.
So it is no surprise that Benson chooses her words with care. Speaking of herself and the aforementioned secretaries of state, Benson said:
“The four of us have an important role to play in maintaining the rule of law, following the law and staying above the political fray.”
They will continue to support each other, she said, “as we proceed in this very complex and thorny issue.”
There’s that word again: “Thorny,” as in prickly, as in Trump. Nobody gets out of his briar patch without scratches. Some might even need to bleed.
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