Donald Trump invokes the “Russia collusion hoax” whenever he is charged with something. It has the desired effect. Many Republicans believe that the criminal justice system—both that of the federal government and those in blue states—is not trustworthy.[1]
An argument pushed both by some members of Robert Mueller’s investigative team and in the media that celebrated their work centered on the issue of obstruction of justice. Donald Trump had not been a compliant investigative target. He had fought against revealing aspects of his business and had used the bully pulpit in an effort to bully the Justice Department lawyers trying to nail his hide to the barn door. In many eyes, that resistance proved that he had something to conceal. Alternatively, that difficult behavior might be explained by his certain knowledge that he had not “colluded” with the Russians. Apparently, the view of the Department of Justice is that it is unfair for an innocent person to fight back. Subsequently, the multiple reports of the Inspector General of the Department of Justice and the report of Special Counsel John Durham spread the dirty laundry of the Justice Department around in public.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s indictment of Trump in the Stormy Daniels “hush money” case has an even worse pedigree. Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance, Jr., had his people investigating Trump for much of Trump’s term[2] without coming up with anything that would support charges. Alvin Bragg had trumpeted his anti-Trump credentials while running for office. Once elected, he found so little of substance, that he wanted to shut down the investigation. His prosecutors took their resistance to the public. Bragg changed course, obtaining an indictment that converted a misdemeanor into a felony by combining it with a violation of federal law that the Department of Justice hadn’t seen as worth pursuing.[3] The main purpose seemed to be to get Trump in front of a “deep blue Manhattan jury,” as the New York Times said. The looming indictment of Trump in Fulton County, Georgia, will arouse the same sort of suspicions, no matter how much better founded the charges. Fulton County went 72 percent for Biden in November 2020.[4] The plea deal with Hunter Biden only adds fuel to the fire of Republican distrust.
This distrust of a seemingly politicized judicial system reinforces, if it doesn’t entirely cause, a rally of many Republican voters to Donald Trump.[5] Arguably, Democrats would rally round one of their standard-bearers if s/he was subjected to the same seemingly unfair treatment. Wait! They already have! It seems more than likely that Hilary Clinton would have fired James Comey in thirty seconds flat if she had been elected President in 2016. She would have been roundly applauded by loyal Democrats.
Much attention has focused on the huge sums being drained from Trump’s campaign war-chest by his legal bills. He gets a vast amount of free coverage from being prosecuted In/By “deep blue” DC, Manhattan, and Fulton County. So, it’s money well spent.
[1] Rich Lowry, “Each Indictment Solidifies Trump’s Base,” NYT, 8 August 2023.
[2] I really don’t want to say “first term.” Please, God, no.
[3] See: Prosecution of Donald Trump i
[4] See: Election Night Reporting (clarityelections.com)
[5] Trump is crushing his Republican rivals in early opinion polls, but as much as a third of Republican voters want someone else to be the Republican candidate in 2024.
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