Don’t get it twisted…the former President is not being persecuted! He’s being prosecuted!   Being held accountable is not persecution. If you want to vote for him, please say you like his policies, or his hair, or his swagger, but don’t use the weakest excuse of all…he’s being persecuted. The former President doesn’t have a public defender or a small-town attorney…he has the best attorney’s that are still willing to work for him.

Furthermore, there is a reason all of these cases are coming at one time…because the former President has been playing the judicial system in a way that you, nor I, or your friends and family could, and quite frankly in a manner no one before him has ever been able to do.  I guess some would say that makes him a genius…but we don’t need a criminal genius as President of the United States.  He is being charged because grand juries have recommended him for trial due to the evidence.  Generally speaking, a grand jury may issue an indictment for a crime only if it verifies those presenting had probable cause to believe a crime has been committed by a criminal suspect. In short, there is a process to get to the court. 

So, let’s do a quick rundown of the charges:

Federal charges for January 6^th include conspiracy to violate rights, conspiracy to defraud the government, obstructing an official proceeding and conspiring to do so all in an effort to remain in power after losing the 2020 election. Please note on that day and ensuing days there was loss of life and bodily harm to officers whose job was to protect our U.S. Capitol Building.

• The former President and  eighteen of his associates were indicted. All face conspiracy charges related to attempts to overturn the state’s results and subvert the will of voters. Four have already pleaded guilty.
• A federal grand jury in Florida charged Mr. Trump with thirty-seven criminal counts, including unauthorized retention of national security secrets and obstruction of efforts by the government to retrieve the files. One of his aides was also named in the indictment.  These charges were pursued only after several attempts by the government to retrieve the classified documents.
• All of the above cases have been delayed by various means, with the Hush-money case being the only one making it to trial: The former President is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records related to reimbursing Michael D. Cohen, his then lawyer and fixer, for payments made to an adult film actress.  It is alleged Trump conspired to conceal these records from the public in an effort to influence the 2016 election, especially given the loss of support behind the Access Hollywood scandal.  I personally think it is unlikely to have found a jury that is not tainted by the reach of the MAGA loyal…maybe that’s why his eyes remain closed much of the time, but we will see.  Whether the verdict is guilty or not-guilty, the former President’s hands are obviously dirty…one might say downright filthy.  It is odd that those openly supporting the former President are not those we would think would be by his side. But then, they are not like you or me either.

Trump is not being charged with simple crimes.  These are not charges for illegal drug use, simple battery, or petty larceny. These are charges that involve harm to the foundation of our democracy.  These are not crimes to get food or satisfy a habit…these are the crimes of a very wealthy man to get wealthier and amass more power for him and his friends. These are crimes to influence a lawful election, mishandled classified information, and a refusal to peacefully transfer power.

Trump is not like you, he just isn’t. This is the man who incessantly questioned President Obama’s birth in the United States. This is the man whose $85,000 ad campaign calling to reinstate the death penalty in 1989 became notorious in light of the Central Park Five case. Trump referenced the case in the ad but did not specifically call for those involved with the case to be executed, saying “when they kill, they should be executed for their crimes.” The ad was placed in four New York papers, including The New York Times, The Daily News, The New York Post and New York Newsday  less than two weeks after the brutal rape and assault of Trisha Meili on April 19, 1989. The Central Park Five were exonerated. And let’s forget the Justice Department sued Donald Trump, his father, Fred, and Trump Management in order to obtain a settlement in which Trump and his father would promise not to discriminate. The case eventually was settled two years later not without a vigorous fight from the plaintiffs. No, Trump is not like you…he is not being persecuted.

So, think hard about how you vote. Trump biggest triumphs during his presidency were hard on the average American:

• He mishandled a pandemic that he first lied about leaving families dying or suffering long-term illness due to just not knowing they needed protect themselves.
• He put justices on the Supreme Court who did not have the foresight to see the implications of removing the protections of  Roe with no serious thought to how it would affect women’s healthcare and lives.
• He infiltrated our government with his friends who had no expertise in the areas they were heading.
• The very wealthy got wealthier…and now he is openly asking the fuel industry to raise a billion dollars for his campaign in exchange for, in short, getting richer. And, you wonder why inflation has continued.

No, my friends, the former president is no victim.