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An argument for the obvious: Trump MUST be prosecuted [1]

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Date: 2022-07-26

It is his duty based upon the oath that he swore before taking the position he now holds as Attorney General to prosecute Donald Trump for the extremely serious felonies that Donald Trump committed. I believe he will.

This is a short and undoubtedly very flawed argument that Donald Trump MUST be prosecuted for the extremely serious crimes he committed. I can't think of a more serious crime than the ones he committed because if he is not, then it will have been demonstrated that we don't even the pretense of equal justice under the law and we don't actually have even a semblance of a democracy. It is also argues that the decision to NOT prosecute Donald Trump would be political whereas the decision to prosecute him would NOT be. Publicly available evidence including that gathered by and presented by the Select Committee of the United States House of Representatives undergirds the claims even though it is not detailed here.

It seems clear Donald Trump attempted a coup and fomented the insurrection. He seems to have intentionally incited a mob to prevent Congress from carrying out it's constitutionally mandated duty of counting the electoral college votes in order to stay in power despite losing the electoral college vote according to the vote as certified by the states. Were or if he is not guilty of a crime, he should not be prosecuted. However, simply because he was president and nearly 75 million people voted for him cannot be a sufficient reason for him to not be prosecuted if he did indeed as overwhelming evidence suggests commit a crime. Should he get away with committing such a serious crime simply because he held a powerful position in government and won many votes, then this will send a message to him and those like him and the Republican Party that they can keep trying this without consequence until they succeed. If he did commit such a crime, a crime to attempt a coup, an attempt to stay in power despite losing the vote, then we no longer are a nation of laws and there is no such thing as equal justice. Rather, we have a system in which government attacks those it doesn't like and spares those it does. It is simply an organization which attacks those whom the people in government dislike and gets revenge on those they dislike.

There likely will be protests and consequences if Donald Trump is prosecuted for committing these serious crimes. There will be violence and chaos if Donald Trump is successfully prosecuted for these serious crimes he committed. However, these consequences pale in comparison to the consequences of Donald Trump being allowed to commit these serious crimes without being successfully prosecuted for them. While those who are huge fans of Donald Trump and who either don't understand the evidence that he committed these serious crimes or don't care that he did so will be extremely upset, almost certainly violently so, the violence of the ignorant and/or who don't care if their party's leaders commit serious crimes can't be the ones to decide if the people they support are prosecuted for serious crimes. The decision to prosecute Donald Trump (and any others of whatever political party in years that follow) must be based only upon the evidence that he committed a serious crime or serious crimes, not based upon partisan loyalty nor upon fear of those who will act primarily or exclusively based upon partisan loyalty.

The peaceful transfer of power, a uniquely American concept, is essential to our democracy. The attempt to take our retain power , to retain or hold onto an elected position of power in government despite losing the vote according to state certified popular vote totals is a grave threat to our democracy and it must be prosecuted and it must be prosecuted successfully. Threats of violence, no matter how large the number of those who issue them, cannot be the reason a person in or seeking a powerful elected position in government is not prosecuted.

If this doesn't happen, then we no longer have a democracy and we no longer have equal justice under the law. Democracy and equal justice under the law are and must be far more important than the transient violence of ignorant partisans, no matter how large in number, if we are to retain them. Allowing Donald Trump to get away with these serious crimes because of the threat of violence by ignorant partisans is far more political than the decision to prosecute a guilty man, Donald Trump, because an unbiased analysis and examination of the evidence determined that he should be prosecuted because based upon that unbiased analysis of the evidence, it was determined that he did commit these serious crimes. Even more! It is NOT a political decision to prosecute a person whom an unbiased analysis of the evidence led prosecutors to determine was guilty simply because that person is or was a political figure or simply because the prosecutors and the defendant are in different political parties. It would only be a political decision to prosecute a person if the prosecutors primarily or substantially were moved to prosecute the person because that person was in a different political party than the prosecutors. Then, the decision to prosecute would be political. The claim that a prosecution is politically motivated does not make it true. If the prosecutors determined that the potential defendant should be prosecuted even if they had been in the same political party as the prosecutors and it can be demonstrated to an organization consisting of relatively unbiased and informed people that the potential defendant was guilty, then it is NOT a political decision to prosecute the potential defendant and in this case, the potential defendant no matter who they are must be prosecuted and that decision would NOT be political.

Based upon publicly available evidence including evidence uncovered by the Select Committee of the US House of Representatives led by Representatives Thompson, Cheney, and Kinzinger, it seems clear that an unbiased analysis of the evidence demonstrates that President Donald Trump committed several serious crimes including inciting an insurrection, attempting a coup, attempting to prevent Congress from carrying out its constitutionally mandated duty of counting the electoral college votes which had already been certified by the states, attempting to stay in power despite losing the electoral college vote based upon the popular vote certified by the states, and other serious crimes. Therefore, the decision to not prosecute Donald Trump would be political and the decision to prosecute him would not be and he must be prosecuted for these very serious crimes which took aim at the heart of our democracy and at equal justice under the law.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/26/2112788/-An-argument-for-the-obvious-Trump-MUST-be-prosecuted

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