Trump and the Two-Tier Justice System
Or Why Trump Is "Right" For All the Wrong Reasons
Feel free to check the entire blog archives from “Political Pulse” & “Salzillo Report” on the 2024 primary cycle, rural outreach, redistricting litigation, base dynamics, campaign organization, the current media landscape, the issues at stake, America’s political history, the progressive movement, the truth about Gina Raimondo, and much more.
First, we both recommend this recent interview from former Rhode Island Congressman Patrick Kennedy on the state of America’s mental health crisis on CNN’s State of the Union. Kennedy covered a lot in that interview—including how social media, online gambling, and commercialized marijuana can worsen the crisis.
Second, we once again encourage my subscribers to check out several of my blog recommendations, including Ahlquist’s Substack, Pension Warriors, Les’s Notes, and David’s Salzillo’s Two Cents.
For today though, we will not talk about the elections. We will not talk about what the Democratic and Republican parties represent this cycle, what their differing platforms are, or the differences between the characters of the two presidential nominees. We don’t even have to worry about the election data this time around.
Instead, we wanted to talk about the Trump trial and conviction. There has been a lot of discussion about the Trump hush money/2016 election interference case and whether the recent Trump conviction means anything for November. Although we are technically “pundits,” we will not get into that for the time being. Yet we will discuss what it says about our justice system.
Our justice system is not perfect. All too often, it is not always fair either, and we are not necessarily referencing the racial aspect of the criminal justice system—from cases like Rodney King, to Trayvon Martin, to Michael Brown, to Breonna Taylor, to George Floyd, and many others. The more basic fact of our justice system is that regular people who do not have money, or connections, or privilege, or luck of any kind often suffer worse under our current system than the rich, the powerful, the well-connected, and the privileged.
Think about the amount of white, black, brown, Latino, and Asian people incarcerated for low-level offenses, like the small possession of marijuana or other drugs for years. Or people who have outright been criminalized for their addiction, homelessness, or psychiatric needs, problems left unaddressed and neglected by American government and society. Or the people who have gone to death row and have been incarcerated needlessly and even killed when the true culprit was out on the run all along. Or people who can’t pay their bills and lose their homes and cars and are left to deal with the cold “objective” hand of the law. Even when regular people have done the time, and paid their debt to society, prison often ruins their lives forever by leaving them unable to find work, raise a family, or find a good living period. Working men and women deal with this kind of justice way too regularly. But where are the MAGA Republican politicians advocating on their behalf?
They are not there. Perhaps because “the top 1%,” or the American elite, are doing quite alright. The Wall Street executives involving in the housing bubble and the Great Recession of 2008? You know, the men who forever changed the lives of millions of people in this nation? The men who forced everyday Americans across this country to lose their homes, their jobs, and their savings? Well, wherever they are—maybe sipping their margaritas on the Cayman Islands—they are likely celebrating that they never spent a single day in jail.
What about the heads of Corporate America Inc., like the Waltons of Walmart fame, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and Elon Musk? Well, to start, they somehow pay less taxes than teachers, nurses, and firefighters, the working people that are the true backbone of American industry. Then, the billionaire class get to stiff their workers and skirt the rules regularly without any consequences.
How about the fossil fuel executives who intentionally ignored “the Public Welfare” by polluting the air and water of our most vulnerable communities, particularly in cities and in Rural America? Well, they stuck to business as usual. The pharmaceutical industry and the insurance companies that knowingly killed people with astronomical medical bills and drove the opioid epidemic (see West Virginia and Kentucky)? Well, they pay some “hefty” fines at best, and then go off to plan their runs for governor (looking at you, Helena Foulkes; no wonder you tried to cover your bases and sent donations to Mitch McConnell back in 2014).
Much of the same could be said about predatory student lenders. Or DeVos-style charter school chains who make more than a few bucks from privatizing eduction, closing public schools down, failing to meet the standards of federal education law, and corporatizing education at large. Or the lawmakers (cough, cough, the hypocritical Southern Republican lawmakers) who knowingly rigged the state maps all across the country based on partisan affiliation and race and followed the playbook of people like Dale Oldham, Tom Farr, Tom Hofeller, and others? The Supreme Court may give them a pass, but we don’t. We know the truth, which has been clear for a long time from the great work of Stephanie Hofeller.
We should remember that, especially under Trump, none of these people would face criminal prosecution or legal accountability of any kind. And we shouldn’t forget the ways that dark money special interests gain the resources and staff to rewrite the rules of the law in their favor. Regular people, for obvious reasons, just can’t play the game.
Which is why Donald Trump’s baseless rants about the justice system are all the more mind boggling. Donald Trump is not the victim of our system; he is just another wealthy, privileged, well-connected beneficiary of it. Much like other similarly-convicted felons such as Don Blankenship and Rod Blagojevich. Yes, the justice system is not perfect, it is not equal, and in some cases, it is not even fair. But it is not unfair towards Donald Trump and Republicans, nor does it favor President Biden or Democrats (by the way, for all of Donald’s talk about the bumbling “Sleepy Joe,” Joe also somehow “masterminded” Trump’s criminal prosecution. So which is it, Donald? And why would Joe let his “crooked” DOJ bring a case against his own son Hunter?).
In fact, Trump’s claims about unequal treatment and his suggestions that his mug shots and indictments appeal to Black voters are an insult to those suffering under the inequities of our current criminal justice system. If you want the proof of Trump’s hypocrisy, look no further than the Central Park Five. Yes, Donald Trump is the same person who called for the death of five men later proved innocent. And he has never even apologized for it. He is the persecutor, not the persecuted.
Trump is only partially right on the justice system—for all the wrong reasons. People in power do better than people who aren’t in power. He should know that better than anyone. How else could he emerge relatively unscathed through a long history of racial discrimination, financial bankruptcies, shady tax filings, and possible White House Hatch Act violations? How else could he get his cases on mishandling classified documents and January 6th delayed until after the election?
(Incidentally, Judge Aileen Cannon, the judge overseeing the Trump classified documents case, has been called an incompetent and an “idiot” by one of Trump’s own former attorneys, the highly-regarded Ty Cobb).
Let’s take a look at January 6th especially. Hundreds of ordinary people have been arrested, convicted, and sentenced to prison for their roles in the coup and insurrection. You know who hasn’t? Donald John Trump. And who are the people who have been convicted for their roles in Trump’s tax dealings over the years and decades? Backbenchers and accomplices not named Donald Trump—i.e., Michael Cohen, Alan Weisselberg, and others. If Donald Trump wasn’t the wealthy businessman he was, would he have suffered the same fate of his ordinary supporters?
We doubt it. He has some very generous accommodations in our criminal justice system. As many have noted, any regular person who violated the gag orders that Trump had would have been thrown into jail 5 times over at least. In many important ways, Trump has a justice system privileged to him, not weaponized against him. He was a criminal defendant that enjoyed the privileges of both a former President and of a serial white-collar criminal. He is only a “first-time offender” because the State of New York, the federal justice system, and now the Supreme Court allowed him to get away with his other crimes in the years and decades before. A poorer Donald Trump, it goes without saying, would be a serial felon.
So, as Robert Reich or Joe Biden might say, don’t let Trump get away with his “rubbish” and malarkey. Trump had his day in court. Just like every other criminal defendant in his country, he had the opportunity to make his legal case to a jury of 12 random citizens who did their job, considered the evidence carefully, and looked for testimony and evidence to corroborate the accusations of Michael Cohen. That is it.
The judge was not the problem. The ladies and gentlemen of the jury—some of whom would have been picked by the Trump defense team—were not the problem. The problem was Trump, his damning charges, and his decision to hamstring his own defense team. The idea that Democrats benefit from a justice system “going after Republicans” simply lacks any credibility.
Don’t ask us. Ask New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez, another privileged man himself. He is not a Republican, he’s a Democrat. More to the point, he is the subject of a DOJ investigation that has seemed to yield compelling evidence of his guilt. He too will be subject to a trial by jury from his own peers. Then there is former Congressman TJ Cox, another Democrat. The US Department of Justice oversaw his prosecution, and he just recently accepted a plea deal to avoid more legal trouble. Then there is Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan (hint: not a Republican either). Federal prosecutors are still to this day going after him for his alleged crimes. He too will face legal accountability for hi actions. And how could we forget about Anthony Weiner and Jim Traficant, more fellow Democrats who faced rightful and intense legal scrutiny?
As Rhode Islanders, we think back to the example of the late Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci. He was an Independent in a heavily Democratic city, and also was another of our nation’s many convicted felons. He too had a fair process. Ironically, though, Buddy was acquitted on 25 out of 26 total charges. Donald Trump, on the other hand, was convicted on 34 of 34 counts. Goes to show how much effort Bragg put into tracking down the receipts for his case.
Rest assured that if it was Joe Biden or Barack Obama who had been convicted for any of these crimes, the Republican Party establishment would have thrown them a noose instead of a lifeline like they are doing now for Trump. We will say it again: Trump is not the victim of our justice system. He benefited from it like most people in power do. King Don just doesn’t like the outcome of this one particular case.
But King Donald doesn’t get the last say. The people do. That is why we should focus on the real issues that exist in the law. The everyday victims of a broken criminal justice system. Not the sad rantings of a serial fraudster, rapist, and convicted felon.
 | A guest post by
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Excellent commentary. We wish that these words could be understood by all. But education has failed so many. How can so many people believe the things Trump says?