Trump may face legal charges, The New York Times reported earlier last week. Citing recent a recent decision by prosecutors to invite Trump to testify before a grand jury, the Times warned that the former president would likely face criminal charges for alleged hush payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. With the news that Trump is likely to face prosecution, there has been a slew of analytical pieces questioning the significance of those charges, but much of it has been influenced by Trump’s reaction and the political consequences of prosecution rather than considering the importance of the rule of law.
Trump has consistently demonstrated that the rule of law means very little to him. In 2019, then-President Trump insisted that Article II of the U.S. Constitution allowed him to do “whatever I want as president,” despite clear textual evidence to the contrary. He consistently attempted to obstruct and oppose investigations into his conduct. Most notably with the Mueller probe, something that then Special Counsel Robert Mueller warned had made his investigation difficult, though he refused to bring charges.
To say Trump has disregarded the law and subjected it to his own will is a massive understatement, and yet, much of the discussion surrounding the possibility of prosecuting Trump has been largely influenced by a political view of the investigation.
Recently, Public Notice’s Aaron Rupar and Thor Benson interviewed Vice’s Cameron Joseph about a recent article he wrote with Greg Walters detailing how Trump has used the numerous legal firestorms surrounding him to his benefit.
In their report, Joseph and Walters note that Trump saw his polling improve during the Mar-A-Lago search and that his fundraising also improved, but they also note that should Trump face prosecution, he may face attacks by candidates like Ron DeSantis in the primary, putting him on a weaker footing.
But while a large number of Republicans seem fine with Trump breaking rules, they don’t like to lose—which could point to Trump’s actual weakness if he gets charged. The biggest polling dip in Trump’s support in years came right after his slate of candidates got walloped in the 2022 midterms.
And that points to a different kind of vulnerability: Trump’s legal troubles can and have actually hurt him and his party with swing voters, costing them general elections. And Republican primary voters do care about electability.
And while this is all well and good for understanding the internal party politics of the GOP and the 2024 election, it is sorely lacking in considering what a Trump prosecution means for the legal system.
This is a president that has consistently demonstrated that he does not care at all about the nature of America’s legal institutions. His ‘alleged’ violation of The Presidential Records Act is illustrative of this fact.
Despite hundreds of documents being classified, Trump felt entitled to take them and keep them away from prosecutors, hiding them in his office. He routinely destroyed documents while in office, ripping them up before agency staffers had to tape them back together.
Even when the state of the American democratic system was on the line, Trump refused to cooperate, telling former aides to defy subpoenas from the January 6th committee. It didn’t matter that his conduct had led to the insurrection or that the highest legislature in the country was threatened. Trump still felt he had a right to defy the lawful limitations on his political power.
And now he may face some consequences. Far from being a simple political issue, the possibility that Trump may face criminal charges in any capacity is a massive deal for the legal system.
Trump would be the first president in American history to face criminal charges of any kind. Not even Richard Nixon was charged for his involvement in Watergate, although he certainly should have been.
What matters here is not merely the political response by Trump but how the law has finally, after seven years of absurd conduct by Trump, decided that it has reason to bring the hammer down on Trump. For once, politics is secondary. Trump’s gross disregard has thoroughly damaged the law, and it is high time that its ability to hold him accountable is demonstrated.
Now is the time to be reminding the public how corrupt Trump has been and will be if he is able to hold office again. The restoration of the rule of law through a Trump prosecution is the story, not horserace politics.
While I am certain that these writers would never suggest that politics is more important than the law, the consistent focus on political forces and not on the law itself is damaging. If the American people are to appreciate the danger Trump represents to our republic fully, then the constant battle between him and the law itself should be front and center. Not the GOP primary.