Editorial: Trying to overturn an election must have consequences, even for former presidents
Another day, another criminal indictment of a twice-impeached former president who is shamelessly seeking to return to the White House. But the indictment of Donald Trump returned by a grand jury in Washington, D.C., is especially grave. It focuses not on alleged hush money for an adult-film actress or Trump’s mishandling of sensitive documents, but on his outrageous attempt to cling to power after his defeat in 2020.
Of all Trump’s actual and alleged misdeeds, trying to overturn an election stands out as uniquely damaging to democracy — and uniquely disqualifying.
The U.S. Senate should have responded to Trump’s actions by convicting him in 2021 after his second impeachment by the House and barring him from holding office in the future. But, despite what Trump may think, it is perfectly appropriate for prosecutors to seek to hold him accountable for alleged violations of criminal law, just as they have with those who rioted at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
A Manhattan grand jury voted to indict the former president on charges related to paying hush money to a former porn star. Convicted or acquitted, he is not fit for office.
Indeed, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republican leader who voted to acquit Trump on the impeachment charges, noted at the time: “We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.”
Indicting a former president is a traumatic event for the nation, but so was Trump’s multifaceted attempt to overthrow the results of the 2020 election. The indictment accuses him of conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against voting rights.
The indictment offers a riveting account of efforts to overturn the election and asserts starkly that Trump’s claims about election fraud “were false, and the defendant knew that they were false.” Like any criminal defendant, Trump is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Given the devotion of his most fervent supporters, some might worry that prosecuting Trump could actually enhance his election prospects, especially if he were acquitted. But special counsel Jack Smith’s duty is to the law, not to any political strategy. Even if Trump were acquitted of all charges, that wouldn’t alter the fact that he placed his own interests above those of the nation and sought to overturn the will of the voters. Criminal or not, that conduct is disqualifying.
The charges are deadly serious, and Republicans who paint the former president as a victim — or engage in reckless rhetoric about possible retribution against prosecutors — are disserving the country.
Sadly, large numbers of Republicans continue to support Trump, and some may even believe his absurd assertion that prosecutors are targeting him as a way to harm his supporters. “They’re not indicting me; they’re indicting you,” he said at a rally in Pennsylvania. “I just happen to be standing in the way.”
A New York Times/Siena College poll published this week found that Trump is leading the field among the likely Republican primary electorate, with support from 54% of those surveyed.
It may seem inexplicable that Trump maintains a hold over so many of his followers, despite successive indictments, harsh criticism by prominent former members of his administration and the detailed and damning record amassed by the House Jan. 6 committee.
This state of affairs becomes somewhat more comprehensible, but no less depressing, when one considers the influence of Fox News, the tired talking point that the Justice Department has been “weaponized,” and the way some prominent Republicans, including some of his opponents in the race for the 2024 presidential nomination, have been reluctant to condemn Trump in forthright terms. One of the few exceptions, former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), was booed last week in Iowa after he said that “Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison.”
It is crucial that he stand trial on these serious criminal charges. And whether or not Trump ever sees the inside of a prison cell, he should never be allowed to return to the Oval Office.
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