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Why Do Republicans Fear a Trump Conviction? [1]

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Date: 2022-09-03

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/15007298/michael-cohen-photoshopped-trump/

From The Washington Post,

There will be ‘riots in the street’ if Trump is prosecuted, Graham says Sen. Lindsey O. Graham said Sunday that there would be “riots in the street” if former president Donald Trump is prosecuted for taking classified government documents to his private Mar-a-Lago residence after leaving the White House.

It’s not just Lindsey Graham, but many Republican leaders and Trump supporters have not only been denouncing the FBI Search and Investigation of Donald Trump’s possession of sensitive documents, but many are threatening violence over this.

Only fearful people react so strongly to such a situation,

so it begs the question:

Why do they fear a Trump conviction?

The answer is astonishingly simple: If Trump is indicted, the US Department of Justice will have leverage on Trump to flip and give evidence against his other criminal associates. If Trump is convicted, DOJ will have even more powerful legal leverage to get Trump to rat on his associates. In the case of a criminal conspiracy, the penalties are much worse.

This realization is not at all lost on Trump’s fellow conspirators. Anyone who knows Donald Trump knows he is only loyal to himself and will quickly throw anyone and everyone under the bus to limit his criminal accountability.

If Trump is convicted, especially a severe conviction with jail time, then anyone the DOJ wants to know about immediately gets added to Trump’s Enemies List. It’s that simple, and everyone who knows Trump knows this.

I have no idea why the mainstream media has not picked up on this theme.

But, it’s not just Donald Trump, his family members also have criminal liability, and if they are indicted and especially if they are convicted, they will flip just as quickly.

Fascism

Why have Republicans turned so quickly to Fascism, Terrorism, and other forms of Authoritarianism? After the January Sixth Insurrection, why did so many people pivot after initially denouncing Trump's complicity? Here is an example

But, according to Reuters: Trump meets with McCarthy, agrees to help Republicans take back the House

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump had a fence-mending meeting with U.S. House of Representatives Republican leader Kevin McCarthy on Thursday in which Trump promised to help the party take back the chamber in 2022 congressional elections.

McCarthy and Trump mend fences, and McCarthy, after that, pivots away from his initial condemnation of Trump. What could they have talked about to mend fences? Could it have gone something like:

Trump: Kevin, I have documented political and criminal evidence against you and many other Republican leaders, many other powerful people. If I go down, if I am indicted or convicted, then I will be making a plea deal with DOJ, and you can be sure I will given them anything they ask that will lessen my punishment. Trump: Kevin, if I decide to form my own political party, and we run in an election, then all my followers who used to vote Republican, will not vote Republican, they will vote Trump. Republicans will be unable to win any election... Trump: Kevin, He who can destroy a thing, can control a thing.

Actually, that last bit

He who can destroy a thing, can control a thing. — Frank Herbert, Dune; Paul Atreides to the Guid Navigators

And unlikely as it is that Trump has read Dune, it is likely he understands the concept of destruction and control; everyone who knows Trump knows that Trump is just as determined to have his way as Paul Atreides; he would do anything, destroy anything and everyone, especially if held accountable for his actions.

Republicans are ramping up their Fascist rhetoric because they are increasingly fearful of how Trump can destroy them if he faces DOJ in a plea bargain, increasingly desperate to avoid political and legal accountability. Indeed, Republicans are so aware of their criminality; that they have less escape in a democracy; their only sure escape is an authoritarian government they control that protects them from the sins that Trump can expose.

It's really that simple...

On the other hand, if Trump goes to jail, he will be every bit as safe in jail as Jeffrey Epstein...

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