(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .



Why Trump May Never be Arrested/Indicted [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags']

Date: 2022-12-28

Trump acted in full view of the nation to set the January 6th violent attack on the Congress in motion.

It took some time for me to fully grasp this possibility, and it’s not one I care for. But as much as the Orange One has earned spending the rest of his natural life in prison, politics will likely decide the matter, not the severity of Trump’s many crimes. It’s no coincidence that the Justice Department itself under Garland has made no effort to indict despite overwhelming evidence which only grows stronger each passing day. To date, his most definitive move in fact has been to pass along that possibility to a special prosecutor. A move that could have been done nearly two years ago and only makes sense now because the House was lost to the Republicans.

Watching Trump Self-Destruct

Trump is simply more potential trouble indicted and on trial for the ruling elites and those in the political class not aligned with the fascists. To them, he’s a rapidly declining and mostly spent political force. Someone who, given enough rope, will hang himself. An indictment to them appears as one of the few ways he might still be able to make major trouble and resurrect his dead in the water 2024 presidential campaign and his control over the Republican Party and the MAGA mob. There was likely little support in our upper circles of power for making a principled indictment of Trump at the earliest opportunity.

Democratic Party Reluctance?

President Biden

I also think that leading Democrats are very reluctant to set the actual precedent of arresting a former president, fearing all out war among America’s elite. Biden knows that whatever is done to Trump will be done either to him or the next Democratic president. Except of course that we already have a version of such a war going on, one which led to the January 6th Coup attempt. Plus the current Republicans would likely go after Biden anyway regardless of what may or may not be done to Trump if they also held the Senate.

The argument that such perpetual delay will only embolden the fascists has apparently been rejected as was the principled one that as the most culpable he should have been the first to be indicted. Even though the nature of fascism historically suggests the possibility of more coup attempts as well as does the current rhetoric and behavior of the fascists. Since they have morphed into outright fascism the Republicans can never be trusted again unless their power has been thoroughly smashed.

Security is Compromised if the Fox is in the Hen House

January 6th could have succeeded.

What I and most of us are not privy to are intelligence reports and a more complete understanding of the internal, behind the scenes developments in the military and where its loyalties lie. Gun toting wacko members of Congress like Margie Taylor Greene in particular cannot be trusted.

Another coup attempt or attack on the floor of Congress is not out of the question. While most fascist leaning Republican politicians are more bark than bite, and would never risk their own skins for any cause, they are only too happy to risk someone else’s. As January 6th demonstrated. Congressional security cannot be guaranteed when the fox is in the hen house and has members working for fascism or Russia’s Putin.

Which Side Will the Military Support?

SP Jack Smith

Revolutions of all sorts, both good ones and bad ones, can be pulled off with relatively small numbers of actual military forces. The Bolsheviks proved that in 1919. So did January 6th. Which if we are honest about it, had a fairly decent chances of succeeding as to Trump’s immediate goals as more and more details of the plot have emerged. We don’t know how the military would have reacted to a successful January 6th, had they stood down Trump might still be in power today. There are those who think the military would have supported Biden at that time, but Trump had four years to stimulate military support for fascism. In any case, we cannot be certain where the military stands today.

Will Mark Meadows be Indicted?

Former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows

Mark Meadows, Peter Navarro, and Dan Scavino have all refused to testify and been cited for criminal contempt of Congress. All three are knee deep in Trump’s coup plot to block certification of Biden on January 6th. One way to force Trump’s hand without indicting him is to indict the other main plotters who helped execute his plans on January 6th, especially his Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

It is this direction that it seems as though things are headed. One advantage that the appointed Special Prosecutor Jack Smith will have is insulation from Congress and the newly elected Republican House, making any future indictments seem less partisan. Smith has also prosecuted corrupt elected officials in both parties in previous roles as a U.S. attorney. He will also hopefully know whom to indict first and for what charges.

Letting Sleeping Rabid Dogs Lie

Keep in mind that the ultimate goal should be to undermine future fascist attempts to take control over our country. The present fascist goal of the GOP is to replace Trump with DeSantis. So any indictments of the January 6th conspirators, including Trump’s, should be selected with this in mind. If pressuring Meadows to sing like a canary will fully expose the January 6th plotters as well as Trump, so be it.

It is virtually certain that Trump will issue a “call to arms” to his MAGA supporters if indicted. His power to have enough die hard supporters willing to make meaningful trouble declines each passing day. Why be in a hurry to give him something to rave and rant about and awaken his pitiful campaign?

Politics are Rarely Principled but Often Pragmatic

John Gotti, known popularly as the teflon Don.

I have mixed emotions over indicting Trump as either way may actually produce negative consequences. Biden so far has survived and even prospered despite the level of opposition he has faced without there being an indictment of Trump. I do think some major indictments will be forthcoming from the special prosecutor, who is in a better position that I am in judging whose head should role first.

It’s worth remembering why Rudy’s first three high profile prosecutions of mob boss John Gotti embarrassingly failed in the 90s. In a perverse kind of way, Gotti was actually quite popular among many in New York.

It transferred to the jury pool plus Gotti chose great lawyers while Giuliani was a bad one. It was only after investigators compromised his top and closest associate, Sammy the Bull Gravano, and turned him into an informer did Giuliani finally win his fourth attempt at convicting Gotti.

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/28/2143935/-Why-Trump-May-Never-be-Arrested-Indicted

Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/