Did Trump defeat the system?

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellS.E. Cupp: ‘Politics of science and health safety inevitably gained lives’ Poll: Potential Sunup-matchup in NH a dead heat Business groups are urging lawmakers to stick to bipartisan infrastructure deal MORE (R-Ky.) President TrumpDonald Trump told the Senate floorNew Capitol Police chief to take over Friday Overnight Health Care: Biden officials say there is no change to masking guidance today | Missouri Supreme Court rules in favor of expanding Medicaid | The U.S. attorney asked the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade Michael Wolff and the art of monetizing gossip MORE are still responsible for everything he did while he was in office. Not far from anything. “

“However,” McConnell repeated, raising his index finger in the air, “We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil proceedings,” he continued. “And former presidents are inevitably held accountable either.”

But most legal observers have concluded that Trump may not be prosecuted. Certainly no time soon. He may not even be successfully sued. Not for 11instances of potential obstruction of justice found by Robert MuellerRobert (Bob) Mueller Senate Democrats urge Garland not to oppose court order to release Trump obstruction memo Why guarantee a special advice if choose Biden Yates, Cuomo or Jones as AG Barr taps lawyer investigating Russia is investigating sources as special advice MORE. These were termed by Trumps lawyers as simple process crimes even though the process of crimes was against the law.

It’s true that former Trump adviser Tom Barrack was only charged in Brooklyn for process crimes over failure to register as a lobbyist for the Emirates. The alleged conduct, however, according to the indictment, was not to advance Trump’s interests, but turned out to be an infidelity to the former president.

Not for extortion for the sake of Ukraine. There is so much uncertainty as to whether the dirt in Bidens is something of value, and there is a difficult element of quid pro quo. Not for fomenting the Jan. 6 insurrection. There are constitutional issues, cautious lawyers say. Unlike former Attorney General Bill Barr, the current AG Merrick GarlandMerrick GarlandBiden administration is working to withdraw death penalty claims in seven cases launched by federal gun strike forces in five cities Garland has restricted contact to the DOJ to White House officials Plus know who his client is, but also unlike Barr, he seems too shy to take a shot anytime soon. He was not there to throw out the issue that could be decided by a judge. He is there to be an advocate, not for the president, but for all of us.

So, there is no whiff of a complaint in the wings. Neither a grand jury subpoena to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy Kevin McCarthy Democrats are plowing into the investigation on Jan. 6, looking at new GOP Banks to burn the brand with Pelosi veto that Meghan McCain in Pelosi, against McCarthy: ‘I think they’re all bad’ More (R-Calif.) To overturn Trump’s famous conversation with her on Jan. 6 when insurrectionists broke into the Capitol .

There is no doubt that Trump is likely to be convicted before a DC jury for inciting an uprising on Jan. 6, leaving constitutional issues for the appeals courts to debate.

Evidence of conspiracy is often incidental, gathered from actions, declarations and behavior. The iconic appellate judge Learned by Hand is known to be called the conspiracy darling of the modern nursery prosecutor. The evidence against Trump for conspiracy to incite rebellion is overwhelming, and well-known. Here, the prosecutor does not have to flip co-conspirators or interview witnesses ’scores. Most crimes fall into the shadows. This one was captured on camera in simple nationwide viewing. The damaging irrefutable evidence is in Trump’s words, his big lies and obviously intended violent consequences of his actions.

Also, Trump is unlikely to be charged in federal court for tax fraud. Manhattan DA Cy Vance charged the Trump Organization and the chief financial officer of tax fraud. But obviously not in the indictment is Donald Trump. Tax fraud would be a federal crime as well. However, the independent Southern District of New York is sitting. Vance, like Garland, comes off as too shy to charge Trump himself.

McConnell also spoke about civil litigation. But Trump may not be held accountable for his slander of E. Jean Carroll. Garland accepted Bill Barr’s absurd position that saying a woman charged with rape was not his type was part of his official role as president. Because of sovereign immunity, Carroll could be left without treatment.

No one seems to have too much appetite for accountability to Trump. The filibustering Senate rejected a resolution in the House calling for an independent investigation on Jan. 6. Speaker Pelosi appointed a select committee to launch an investigation into the House, but if the Republican delays the trial until it begins the mid -term election. the questioning will have the taste of a political cabal. And, if Trumpist Republicans take over the House in 2022, as widely predicted, the investigation will be lost in the dustbin of history.

Trump’s friends are not on the hook. Roger Stone has been forgiven. So were several other former male presidents: Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon (accused of fraudulent Republican donations) and George Papadopoulos. Forgive all.

Without forgiveness, some of Trump’s friends may have flipped over and given up getting evidence against Trump. Barr proved before Congress that it was a criminal act for the president to grant pardon to prevent someone from giving evidence against him. Barr is right, but this violation will also be ignored.

The Supreme Court has said the president is no more than the law, and this lofty principle has found its voice even among Trump nominees.

But, in the real world, the wooden application of lofty principles is a custom more honored in violation. Political persecutions in this country are leaving a bad taste. After all, we are not a banana republic like Brazil, which is regularly confined to our former leaders. But, as Laurence Tribe, the well -known professor of constitutional law at Harvard Law School, said, we become a banana republic if the president is not accountable under the law.

From everything that appears now, McConnell is simply talking a shell game, initiating Trump’s accountability in the courts. Nothing is likely to happen to book Trump. What McConnell sees as his responsibility needs to be judged in a court of public opinion.

James D. Zirin, a former prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, was the Plaintiff author in ChiefA Portrait of Donald Trump in 3500 Lawsuits.

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