The New Yorker had a pre-election article on what could happen if he loses (as he did.)
I won’t summarize, since some of the options were him leaving the country, replacing Limbaugh, etc.
Some thought prosecuting Trump would be a bad idea in that it would set a precedent about prosecuting your predecessor. Someone else noted that if the NY prosecutors dropped the investigation now, it would look like these were purely political.
My take is that since these investigations predate the election, they are not the same as digging up dirt once it was over. Trump is already an unindicted co-conspirator.
If he gets a pass now, it would say that any president could break the law in any way without consequences, assuming enough Senate votes to guarantee acquittal in case of impeachment.
I’m not naive enough to think that Trump in prison would cause all or even most of his supporters to abandon him, but it might cause some to reconsider, especially if there is a lot of clear fraud exposed during the trial.
Biden of course should just say that he supports prosecutors following the facts, no “jail him” crap. But jailing Trump seems to me to be the best thing for the future of the country.
Biden wants to be a uniter, so I doubt that he will encourage any prosecutions but that won’t stop other actors. No doubt there will be a long queue.
This, this, this. I believe one of the biggest reasons this horrible corruption continues unabated from Republican administration to Republican administration, including Congress, is because there is no price to pay for their endless cheating and looting. Biden himself cannot and should not be involved, but it is not out of bounds in the least for him to say that rooting out corruption in government is one of his administration’s priorities. Special focus on elected officials enjoining foreign interference. Then turn the DOJ loose and see where it leads. All the way to the top.
I’m not excluding Dems from any of this. If they participate in government corruption, they should absolutely be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. The corruption must stop.
Our nation has a long history of believing that powerful people should not face consequences for corruption. That’s an idea that’s super helpful for powerful people, so it’s no wonder to me that they want to uphold that norm. But I’m baffled when everyday folk support it.
Of course presidents should be fully prosecuted for any crimes they commit while in office. Come on!
But even if you don’t think that rule applies normally, Trump has carved out a clear exception for himself: at no point in the history of our nation has a president so ardently called for the prosecution of his political foes. He has absolutely no grounds on which to object to his own prosecution.
First step is to actually find out what happened. Make everything public. If there was clear and undeniable criminal behavior, it might be impossible not to prosecute.
When asked Biden has punted on this and said it will be up to the Attorney General.
Which is complete BS because there is no way the AG will move on this without support from the current admin.
I am pretty sure Biden hopes it will all just fade away and let Trump go. He sees no political value in pursuing it.
Unfortunately he is missing the more important value it will have for the rule of law in the country.
I guess we will have to wait and see but my money is Biden does nothing about this. I hope I am wrong.
Read the Mueller Report. He found a lot, it is criminal (certainly sufficient for a trial) and it is public.
Trump is going to pardon himself for federal crimes so any prosecution would be at the state level and Biden has no say in the matter.
That’s a pardon not likely to stick, after it is litigated all the way to SCOTUS. Even this SCOTUS.
It is very unlikely a president can pardon him/herself.
It has not been litigated yet but the consequences are too awful to consider. It basically gives a president a get-out-of-jail-free card for anything they might do.
Madness.
Agreed.
Biden already has promised hands off. No need to break that promise.
New York State authorities will use their professional judgment as to whether alleged crimes meet normal standards for indictment, and if they think a jury would convict. Due to massive prejudicial pre-trial publicity, pro and con, this might be a problem. One Trumper on the jury, and you have an acquittal.
There also is likelihood of need for extradition. If DJT is sufficiently frightened of prison, he might flee the country.
Is there a possibility that a U.S. state would refuse extradition?
I suspect that the entire process, from indictment to exhausting appeals, would drag on until he is old enough to get out of it on medical grounds.
You really think that’s the extent of the illegal behavior? I expect that’s the tip of the iceberg. I think EVERYTHING should be made public ASAP, and then let the chips fall where they may.
It also has a long history of sending crooked politicians to jail. My last congressperson is in prison as I write this.
Crime will never go away. While the normal legal process should go forward, whether Trump beats the rap will have little deterrent effect. The next one will think he is smarter than Trump was and thus be able to get away with it.
The U.S. has the world’s highest incarceration rate, or close to it. This has not stopped violent crime, or crime by people of color, or any other kind of crime. I’m not saying we just let everyone get away with everything. I am saying that the benefits of any one prosecution, however great the publicity, are miniscule.
I need a cite for this one.
Biden has said it is not up to him, it is up to the DOJ – which is true. And it is not the same thing as saying “hands off,” at all. In fact, it was a pretty clear indication that Biden was going to let the DOJ do their thing – wherever it may lead.
No but it is a start and will keep him busy for a long time.
It’s like Al Capone. Was he only guilty of tax evasion? Nope. But it put him behind bars for the rest of his life.
By all means though, throw the kitchen sink at him and his family.
Politically speaking I think we’ll need more than what’s already known. So I think it would be better to find out absolutely everything and release it first.
The AG and DOJ don’t work in a vacuum. They absolutely take cues from the president (see: William Barr, see: Bush and torture memos, see: Obama and HSBC).
So Biden should be like Bush at his worst, and Trump at his typical?
No.
As far as Obama interfering with the Justice Department investigation of HSBC, do you have maiinstream evidence for that? I don’t find it in a relevant New York Times article.
I think you may be misreading what he said.
Here’s the very first line from your cite:
He goes on to say he will not direct the DOJ to do anything, will stay completely “hands off.” But what he means there is different from your interpretation.
It is customary for the president to not use the DOJ to “punish” his political enemies as Bill Barr has done for Trump. IOW, Biden is simply going back to the way things are meant to be done: Not use the DOJ as his personal attorney or prosecutor.
That is not at all the same thing as saying he will not allow the DOJ to pursue lawful charges against anyone – including Trump.