Goodbye to the Rule of Law
Trump will destroy America’s foundational founding myth.
Although the rich have been getting away with crimes since the founding of the Republic, this concept that no one is above the law at least applied to the proletariat, or the common man. The citizenry has mostly accepted this powerful myth.. That myth is hanging by a thread given Trump’s own crimes, but will be completely and 100% indefensible after Trump pardons the traitors that attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The Rule of Law in America is based on the 5th and 14th amendments to the Constitution. Section 1 of the 14th Amendment reads: “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”. Equal protection is equivalent to, or implies, the principle that no one is above the law.
The common law system is based upon judicial decisions that have been administered by the common-law courts of England since the Middle Ages. In the United States, the rule of law has been a fundamental value in the legal and historical order of the United States of America since the birth of the Republic . The Revolution, the Constitution, and the legal institutions of the United States all seek “the empire of laws and not of men.” This concept has been the unifying thread in the history of American law.
Review of Trump’s crimes.
After Trump's treasonous attempt at overthrowing the results of the Presidential election on January 6, 2021, over 1000 people have been charged, with 485 sentenced and 277 serving time. Mr. Trump has promised to pardon those charged as a result of his own treason, including Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Jacob Chansley, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, Joseph Biggs and Connie Meggs. Henry "Enrique" Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison. The former chair of the Proud Boys, he faces the longest sentence to date in relation to the January 6 uprising. Elmer Stewart Rhodes III the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison for seditious conspiracy, among other charges. Now count to 485. When considering appeals, about 600 different courts have been involved. Yet Trump is poised to overturn the Rule of Law in America, which used to be based on the concept that America is an empire of laws and not of men.
Separate and distinct from his pardons of obvious criminals, Trump himself has been avoiding consequences of the legal system for his entire life. The five most recent of his many criminal behaviors are (1) Georgia election interference, (2) theft of classified documents, (3) rape and defamation as a result of the rape and (4) instigating the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol and Congress and (5) the New York City fraud case for which he owes 454 million dollars.
Special Counsel Jack Smith has indicted Mr Trump over alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and he has also indicted the ex-president on 40 felony counts over his alleged mishandling of classified documents. (For purposes of this article, January 6th and the classified documents are considered two separate crimes. Obviously.)
Trump and 18 others were charged with election interference in Georgia, the full indictment is here.
Among the offenses named in the indictment was a request from Trump to then-Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to alter votes. In the early January 2021 phone call, recorded and later released, Trump asked Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes,” which would have pushed him over the threshold of Biden’s win there.
Trump stole classified documents on his way out the door, and refused to return them when the National Security State politely asked him to. Instead he engaged in a pattern of illegal activity, continuing to hide the documents, some of which were never returned, likely having been sold to the highest bidder. Having attempted to hide one crime by committing another, he then resorted to his only successful legal tactic which is to delay. Having been elected (maybe) he is now lobbying to keep Prosecutor Jack Smith's report hidden from the public.
The world is aware that Trump is a rapist, or to be polite, a convicted sex offender. We know he is accused of raping a 13 year old, that he is on tape saying that he can “grab them by the pussy” and get away with it, and there are at least seven photo's of Trump and Jeffrey Epstein together with young women.
5. Donald Trump lost the $454 million civil fraud judgment, due to the fact that he lied about his wealth as he grew the real estate empire that launched him to stardom and the presidency. Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and his company to pay $354 million in fines — a total that jumps to $453.5 million when prejudgment interest is included. It also bars Trump and associates from seeking loans from financial institutions in New York for a period of three years, and includes a three-year ban on Trump serving as an officer or director of any New York corporation.
Thus, Trump has escaped justice in not one but four trials. Recall the idea that Trump could not avoid charges at the state level as he cannot pardon himself, but he has and will evade responsibility in Georgia nonetheless.
Although Trump's reign of terror has not yet begun, I would be remiss in not mentioning his intended crimes. Threatening Panama, Greenland, or Canada (seriously?) is itself illegal. Attacking any of those countries is obviously against international law. According to Rich Bernstein (Substack) “American military action to acquire all of Greenland or part of Panama would be both wrong and unconstitutional. A militarily stronger nation would be waging a war of acquisition based on nothing more than might makes right. Moreover, an American war of acquisition would be unconstitutional without congressional authorization.”
“Acquiring foreign territory by war requires congressional authorization. Even when Congress declares war, that declared war “can never be presumed to be waged for the purpose of conquest or acquisition of territory.” (Fleming v. Page, 50 U.S. at 614) Accordingly, even when Congress declares war, this does not “imply an authority to the President” to acquire territory. (Id.) Rather, without express congressional action by treaty or statute, any occupied territory even in a declared war constitutes “the territory of a hostile foreign nation.” (Id. at 615) Making that occupied territory part of the United States “can be done only by the treaty-making power or the legislative authority.” (Id) Thus, even with a declaration of war, to make foreign territory a part of the United States under our Constitution requires a ratified treaty (which requires 2/3 approval in the Senate) or a statute passed by both houses of Congress”.
In the context of Trump’s crimes, his violation of the Emoluments Clause is minor and the most obvious, so I will spare the detail. The Emoluments Clause is designed to prevent corruption and limit foreign influence on federal officers. There are three clauses, all of which Trump violated during his first term. They are The Foreign Emoluments Clause, The Domestic Emoluments Clause and The Ineligibility Clause. Minor crimes compared to the others, but important in that Israel will flood Trump with money in exchange for continuing genocide.
So far, Trump has evaded charges for the treasonous January 6 insurrection, and for these four other crimes. He is expected to pardon some if not all of the 485 traitors already convicted by the United States system of justice. No sane mouthpiece of the American Empire can ever again utter the words “no one is above the law”, or that America is a country of “laws and not men”.
Original posted at Freepress.org.
Great summary.