The Trump Case is a Test Of the Legal System

The Trump Case is a Test Of the Legal SystemJonathan Turley – Oscar Wilde once said “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself.”

With the release of the indictment of former President Donald Trump, Manhattan District Alvin Bragg has revealed himself as a follower of the Wilde school of legal thought. Bragg knew that he had no criminal case against Trump. However, after running on bagging Trump for some crime (any crime), Bragg knew that many would not care if he had a basis for a criminal charge. He would be lionized to be the first person to ever indict a former president in the blind rage against Trump. Continue reading

Unequal Under the Law for One Means Unequal for All

Unequal Under the Law for One Means Unequal for AllAllan J. Feifer – Ask about the assumption that everyone has a right to equal justice under the law, and the majority would answer, “Yes, of course!” Yet, the reality is that many, particularly partisans from the other side, are unwilling to suspend their hatred for all things Trump. For these individuals, a two-tiered system is just fine.

President Trump has little chance of getting a fair shake by our judicial system. Between venue shopping, judge shopping, and DA shopping, a corrupt judicial system is perfectly okay — declinations or prosecute murder are not out of the ordinary. Still, these ideologues are more than willing to do whatever it takes to sabotage Trump’s 2024 run. Continue reading

Donald Trump: Civil Rights Hero

 By J.B. Shurk The persecution of Donald Trump continues. It seems no accident that within the same twenty-four-hour window, anti-American prosecutors both confirmed their intent to lock up a president for exposing the Deep State's vise-grip over government power and celebrated the conviction of an American meme-maker who had used his First Amendment rights to mock Hillary Clinton's voters before the 2016 election. Highlighting both events as further proof of the country's two-tiered application of "justice," Tucker Carlson correctly noted that the in-your-face double-standard is precisely the point: leftist authoritarians want Americans to fear their power and meekly submit or respond unwisely and be crushed. Just as with the government's outrageous persecution of J6 political prisoners for exercising inviolable freedoms once constitutionally secured by the Bill of Rights, perverting the criminal justice system into nothing more than an illegitimate vehicle for stomping on both Trump and his supporters is now official government policy. As Carlson soberly concluded, "there is no coming back" from this moment. Satirically revealing how the descending woke Iron Curtain is transforming reality into dystopian absurdity, The Babylon Bee covered these stories with the most accurate headline: "Democrats Vow to Arrest as Many Political Opponents as It Takes to Defeat Fascism." It's funny because it's depressingly true. After news of Trump's pending arrest surfaced, former director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell proposed the only logical and moral response: all other Republican candidates for president in 2024 should immediately withdraw from the race and endorse Trump as a forceful demonstration to the American people that the only fight that now matters is the one against tyranny. That it is almost certain that none of them will do so and that all of them will instead exploit the Deep State's torment of Trump for their own political advantage only further supports what we have all long suspected: Republicans do not compete against Democrats; they conspire with Democrats; they compete against the American people. And they will continue to do so, even if it means we lose the rest of our rights and liberties. This fulcrum point in history is where we were always heading. There have been just too many signs for too many years that America's system of governance is rotten to its core and that the political corporations posing as parties had gone all in on surreptitiously working together to corral Americans into their pens, deprive them of their liberties, lock the exits, and throw away the keys. If George Bush and Dick Cheney gave us an unconstitutional PATRIOT Act that transformed America into a national security surveillance State, Barack Obama and Eric Holder used that same poisoned chalice to turn ordinary American patriots into "domestic enemies." As philosopher George Carlin observed, "The word 'bipartisan' usually means some larger-than-usual deception is being carried out." When Republicans and Democrats work together to spy on Americans, censor their speech, and punish their beliefs, their bipartisan malice means nothing less than the death of liberty. Still, there is genuine hope in my heart. The fight for freedom is an eternal war against tyranny that can never be wholly won, and when people are at first shocked and demoralized that their rights have come under attack, it is usually because too many generations have lived comfortably under freedom's protective branches without struggling to preserve the blessings of its peace. That Americans are looking around now aghast that their government so brazenly tramples on their liberties is a piquant reminder that America's guiding light for freedom has been the glorious exception to an otherwise mostly dark world. To keep freedom's flame securely lit, every generation must eventually pay its dues. To be sure, there is something stirring in the heart of this republic. You might worry that it is already too dark and late for success, but I would argue that this is always the exact moment when people of strength and character tend to rise to the occasion. It is easy to forget that only a minority of American colonists were at first willing to face down the then-reigning global superpower at another fulcrum point in history, yet they did so filled not with dread, but rather with enlivened and passionate intensity. Never confuse your sadness for what we have already lost with a misplaced apprehension that what is lost cannot be re-won. That is not how this story goes. There is a reason American liberty is under attack; totalitarian global government cannot rise unless America first falls. There is a reason liberty-loving Americans are here at this precise moment in history; their refusal to relinquish what is theirs by right will ensure that future generations still know freedom. More than anyone in many decades, Donald Trump has exposed the Swamp for what it is and reawakened Americans to the evils that wish to tame them. Two weeks ago, political cartoonist Tom Stiglich drew the standing figures of four historical giants: Mohandas Gandhi; Martin Luther King, Jr.; Nelson Mandela; and Donald Trump. Underneath their images were these words: "Political Prisoners." Trump's fate, of course, is not yet written, but this much is certain: he is already the most important civil rights hero of our time. His enemies want him crushed, but they only transform him into something more important and bigger-than-life: he has become the living embodiment of the principle that the freedom to engage in political dissent must be defended at all costs. Standing between ordinary Americans and outright tyranny, Donald Trump refuses to get out of the way. And that type of sheer guts inspires others. When Breitbart ran the story of Trump's indictment, the response from readers was overwhelmingly supportive of the president. Nearly fifty thousand comments attacking the government's political persecution flooded the site. In a representative instance of fury, a commenter called "Spock" wrote, "Our government bodies are operating just like the Soviet Union's did." In reply, "Snitch-in-Time" drolly noted: "The good news is there is a God in Heaven who punishes this. Never forget that Lavrentiy Beria, Stalin's most feared enforcer, met his end handcuffed to a chair, wetting and soiling himself in a Kremlin basement, with his brains eventually splattered all over a wall. So it will be when the Democrat Crime Syndicate starts eating itself." Clearly, this revolting government tyranny has lit a fire under Americans. Whether Trump-supporter or foe, anyone with a brain knows we've crossed into banana republic territory. Fighting back tears, sports guru Jason Whitlock told Tucker Carlson, "I am hardcore MAGA tonight. M-A-G-A. They want to turn this country into a communist Marxist hellhole. This is tyranny. This is B-------." Glenn Beck correctly concluded, "Donald Trump is not even a person anymore. He's a symbol. He's a symbol of the average everyday guy that keeps getting screwed every single time." Even election theft appeaser Bill Barr understands that Trump's persecution is an "abomination" and an "abuse of prosecutorial power." The most important message, however, comes directly from President Trump, who reminds us of this: "Nothing worth doing ever, ever, ever came easy. Following your convictions means you must be willing to face criticism from those who lack the same courage to do what is right. Relish the opportunity to be an outsider. Embrace that label. ... Because it's the outsiders who change the world and who make a real and lasting difference. The more that a broken system tells you that you're wrong, the more certain that you should be that you must keep pushing ahead. ... Never, ever give up. ... Just never quit. ... They're not coming after me; they're coming after you; I'm just standing in their way. And I always will." You hear that? That's the sound of history knocking. Image: PAHomepage.com via YouTube, CC BY 3.0. 4 Share72 American Thinker on MeWe | Print | Email To comment on this or any other American Thinker article or blog, you must be a subscriber to our ad-free service. Login to your subscription to access the comments section. You can subscribe on a monthly basis for $6.79 a month or for a year at $69.99 LoginSubscribe / Change Pwd J. B. Shurk – The persecution of Donald Trump continues. It seems no accident that within the same twenty-four-hour window, anti-American prosecutors both confirmed their intent to lock up a president for exposing the Deep State’s vise-grip over government power and celebrated the conviction of an American meme-maker who had used his First Amendment rights to mock Hillary Clinton’s voters before the 2016 election.

Highlighting both events as further proof of the country’s two-tiered application of “justice,” Tucker Carlson correctly noted that the in-your-face double-standard is precisely the point: leftist authoritarians want Americans to fear their power and meekly submit or respond unwisely and be crushed.

Continue reading

The Perils of Weighing Public Opinion Over Evidence

Rittenhouse trialJonathan Turley – With closing arguments scheduled for Monday in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, the jury will soon get one of the most politically and emotionally charged cases in history. The question, however, is whether the prosecutors practically closed this case before it began in 2020. They followed a long pattern of prosecutors rushing indictments and overcharging defendants in high-profile cases.

Even with the court agreeing to a key favorable instruction, the prosecution may have doomed this case by responding to the weight of public opinion rather than to the weight of the evidence. Continue reading

Emmet Sullivan Delays General Flynn Case Again

Emmett SullivanJoe Hoft – The wholly corrupt judge in the General Flynn case, Judge Emmet Sullivan, has delayed Flynn’s right to a speedy trial and continues to abuse the General who the DOJ admitted a half a year ago was wrongfully prosecuted.

While General Flynn endures years of Deep State prosecutorial abuse based on no crimes and made up crimes and deep state lies, others like Hunter Biden are allowed to walk freely after taking millions from foreign entities in shady deals while Barack Obama was President.

American general and war hero, General Michael Flynn obtained attorneys from Covington to represent him in the filing of a FARA form in December of 2016, shortly after the 2016 election. A few months later, General Flynn’s life was turned upside down and he eventually hired Covington again, but this time to represent him on charges being leveled against him by the Mueller gang. Continue reading