Yesterday The American Spectator published my article about the predicted arrest of former President Donald Trump by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The article was featured on Real Clear Politics and has generated a fair amount of comment.
At the time of publication, the arrest was supposed to have taken place today. But it has been put on hold for reasons that are unclear. How this will ultimately play out is unknown.
Meanwhile the NYPD has been placed on alert as pro and anti Trump protesters gather at the barriers that have been erected around Trump Tower. Protesters are also gathering at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is being pressured to prohibit extradition of Trump to New York to face what many consider to be – pardon the expression – trumped-up, bogus charges.
Ever since this story broke, Jimmy Buffett’s “Banana Republics” has been running through my head. While the lyrics don’t exactly fit where we are as a nation, the title sure does. Plus it’s got a catchy tune. Take a listen:
Arresting Trump – The American Spectator | USA News and Politics
“With the law books filled with a great assortment of crimes, a prosecutor stands a fair chance of finding at least a technical violation of some act on the part of almost anyone. In such a case, it is not a question of discovering the commission of a crime and then looking for who has committed it, it is a question of picking the man and then searching the law books, or putting investigators to work, to pin some offense on him. It is in this realm — in which the prosecutor picks some person whom he dislikes or desires to embarrass, or selects some group of unpopular persons and then looks for an offense, that the greatest danger of abuse of prosecuting power lies. It is here that law enforcement becomes personal, and the real crime becomes that of being unpopular with the predominant or governing group, being attached to the wrong political views, or being personally obnoxious to or in the way of the prosecutor himself.” (Emphasis added)
— Attorney General Robert Jackson’s address to the Second Annual Conference of United States Attorneys, April 1940
“Show me the man, and I’ll show you the crime.”
— Lavrentiy Beria, Chief of Soviet Secret Police under Joseph Stalin
On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump will be arrested by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Reportedly, the charges will pertain to alleged hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels which purportedly violated campaign finance laws. Alvin Bragg, the Soros-funded progressive District Attorney, has yet to explain the legal theory underlying the charges. But, given his alarming and astounding demolition of Manhattan’s criminal justice system, it will no doubt be a counterintuitive and inventive interpretation of the law.
No matter what charges are brought, it is clear that this prosecution will be just one more tawdry political hit job. Compared to the Hillary Clinton-concocted Trump-Russia collusion smear, the FBI’s Operation Crossfire Hurricane, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, the two baseless impeachments voted by the House Democrats, and multiple tax audits, Bragg’s case — whatever its theory — would seem to be, in the immortal words of The Godfather II’s Hyman Roth, “small potatoes.”
But, however overreaching and flimsy his case may be, Bragg will have succeeded where others have failed. Charging Trump in an overwhelmingly progressive venue all but guarantees his conviction. The accolades and political rewards for Bragg will be incalculable.
Similarly, down in Atlanta, Fani Willis, the Democrat District Attorney of Fulton County, is reportedly sitting on a grand jury report concerning possible criminal charges against Trump for his interactions with state officials about the 2020 presidential election.
Imagine that. A candidate complaining to responsible officials about the conduct and outcome of an election. It seems that we are about to be told that such behavior is criminal.
Silly? Of course. But, in today’s woke and nakedly politicized world of criminal justice, any pretext will do as long as it can be used to harm those who challenge or offend the party in power.
So, when the media and the political establishment explode with joy and rapture as Trump is arrested, fingerprinted, mugshot and taken before a judge, keep in focus what is really happening. His will be the first presidential arrest in American history, and, as such, it will mark a tragic and dangerous turning point on this nation’s descent into tyranny.
For Trump’s real crime was that he challenged and undermined the established political order. Against all odds, he conducted a hostile takeover of the Republican Party and drew to its banner millions of middle and working class voters. He gave those previously ignored and disenfranchised citizens a voice and acted on their behalf regardless of the consequences to the political and business interests of the Washington establishment. It is for that the Uniparty — Democrat and Republican alike — has hounded him and sought his destruction.
Trump has the resources and courage to withstand the onslaught. But the harsh lesson to others is clear.
To those who in the future may wish to challenge the power of the permanent political class, heed well what it is doing to Trump. This is the Uniparty’s playbook, and here’s its message: the vast wealth, emoluments, privileges, and power of government belong to us, and, if you get in our way, we will destroy you.
That’s their message. So what shall be our response?
George Parry is a former federal and state prosecutor. He blogs at knowledgeisgood.net and may be reached by email at kignet@outlook.com.
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