I missed George Santos at the protest
outside the courthouse where Donald Trump was later arraigned on Tuesday, and I
could not hear a thing Marjorie Taylor Greene said over the screams of
counter-demonstrators and the incessant blowing of whistles. They were the two
biggest names who turned out to show their support for Trump on a day that felt
at once historic and very small.
اضافة اعلان
The police put up metal barriers dividing a
block-sized park near the courthouse in two, with dozens of Trump opponents on
one side, dozens of Trump acolytes on the other, and cops everywhere.
Altogether, there were hundreds of people, often screaming at one another
across the divide, chants of “USA” competing with chants of “Lock Him Up!”
Before the indictment was unsealed, rumors
flew across Twitter that it included a conspiracy count, but in the end, all 34
counts were for falsifying business records in connection with the payoff to
silence adult film star Stormy Daniels, which Manhattan District Attorney Alvin
Bragg argued was connected to a broader scheme to squelch negative stories
about Trump.
The chargesAccording to the indictment, the business
record falsifications were done “with intent to defraud and intent to commit
another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof”. Although no other
crime is charged, the statement of facts accompanying the indictment accuses
Trump of violating election laws. It is the connection to another crime that
turns falsifying business records from a misdemeanor into a felony.
“Combining the criminal charge with a violation of state election law would be a novel legal theory for any criminal case, let alone one against the former president”
Observers from across the political
spectrum have been skeptical of the legal theory that underlies Bragg’s case.
As the New York Times reported in March, “Combining the criminal charge with a
violation of state election law would be a novel legal theory for any criminal
case, let alone one against the former president, raising the possibility that
a judge or appellate court could throw it out or reduce the felony charge to a
misdemeanor.” Trump, in other words, may still wriggle out of this predicament.
As I have argued before, if Trump’s role in
the hush money payments broke the law, it is a serious matter, because those
payments helped him get elected, and the plot to cover them up sent his former
lawyer to prison. Trump, the statement of facts says, “orchestrated a scheme
with others to influence the 2016 presidential election by identifying and
purchasing negative information about him to suppress its publication and
benefit the defendant’s electoral prospects.” If this is true, it is perverse
to suggest that Trump’s success in this scheme — represented by him winning the
presidency — is a reason not to prosecute him.
If Trump’s role in the hush money payments broke the law, it is a serious matter, because those payments helped him get elected, and the plot to cover them up sent his former lawyer to prison
Nevertheless, for all the hype going into
Tuesday, the indictment feels anticlimactic. “True and accurate business records
are important everywhere, to be sure,” said Bragg in his news conference after
the arraignment. “They are all the more important in Manhattan, the financial
center of the world.” Trump, like everyone else, should be held accountable if
he failed to keep such records. We are not owed an indictment commensurate with
his depravity. Still, these are hard charges to get excited about.
Where are the crowds?Indeed, what has struck me over the last
two days in New York is a distinct lack of excitement. Many who detest Trump, I
suspect, have lost faith in the ability of the legal system to hold him to
account. And while his supporters may threaten civil war, not many of them seem
willing to brave Manhattan, which they have been told is a crime-ridden hellhole.
Earlier this week, Roger Stone, the
political dirty trickster and longtime Trump ally, promoted a Monday rally outside
Trump Tower. When I went there, only a handful of people had shown up.
Tuesday’s turnout was larger, but still felt more desultory than menacing,
despite some threatening rhetoric. (One man carried a sign with a noose affixed
to it, signifying his hopes for members of the “Liberal Biased News Media”.)
You could walk a block away and be unaware that anything was happening.
Many who detest Trump, I suspect, have lost faith in the ability of the legal system to hold him to account. And while his supporters may threaten civil war, not many of them seem willing to brave Manhattan
Maybe this is to be expected: Many of the
people who might have led mob violence have been either indicted or convicted
for their involvement in the January 6 insurrection. And certainly, there
remains an acute danger from Trump fanatics acting alone. The way the Trump
camp has targeted the daughter of the judge overseeing the Trump case has been
particularly unconscionable. Arguing that the daughter’s political work
constituted a conflict for her father, people including Greene, Donald Trump
Jr, and Eric Trump shared a story featuring her photograph on social media, and
Trump went after her in his post-arraignment speech, likely putting her safety
at risk.
But while Trump still has an obsessive
following, he can no longer command the country’s stunned attention, even by
getting arrested. Maybe that is the consolation of an arraignment that does not
feel at all momentous.
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