‘Persecution through prosecution’ of Trump

OPINION:

An unprecedented attempt to prosecute a former U.S. president is underway with the indictment of Donald Trump. The defendant deserves the presumption of innocence, but the Democratic Party, garbed in disguise as Lady Justice, disagrees.

Americans can readily gather that the party’s bosses are baiting a trap with reckless charges against the nation’s top Republican. Now they wait to ensnare citizens who dare to object. It’s what former acting Secretary of Defense Kash Patel calls “persecution by prosecution.” Patriotic Trump supporters should take pains to avoid the prosecutorial pitfalls.

Democratic New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg has ordered Mr. Trump to appear for arraignment Tuesday on charges stemming from a $130,000 “hush money” payment to adult entertainer Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election. Although currently under seal, the criminal complaint is said to artfully upgrade a misdemeanor records violation to a felony with 34 counts.

This is the same prosecutor who, in his first full year in office, downgraded more than half of New York City’s felonies to misdemeanors and, consequently, major crime spiked 23%. Witnessing the Bragg brand of justice, it is no surprise that 62% of respondents to a recent Quinnipiac poll said they believe the “case involving former President Donald Trump is mainly motivated by politics.”

The ilk of Bragg cheerleaders validates that perspective. Rep. Adam Schiff, a California Democrat who led impeachment proceedings against Mr. Trump, says the New York indictment upholds the nation’s system of justice. “A nation of laws must hold the rich and powerful accountable, even when they hold high office,” he tweeted.

That’s a statement flag-waving Americans would second — if it also applied to Democrats. In 2022, the Federal Election Commission found “probable cause to believe” Hillary Clinton and her presidential campaign misreported $1 million in legal expenses that turned out to be the bill for the so-called Steele dossier, which triggered the bogus Trump-Russia collusion investigation. Rather than face prosecution like Mr. Trump, the former first lady’s campaign simply paid an $8,000 penalty.

The justice system shows similarly small interest in purported evidence that President Biden, while serving as Barack Obama’s vice president, manipulated U.S. foreign relations in Ukraine, China and elsewhere to cultivate overseas business opportunities for his son Hunter and other family members.

Mr. Trump says his adversaries’ ultimate target is not himself but the hundreds of millions of Americans unwilling to surrender their reverence for God, country and family and meekly submit to rule by seething anti-Americans who relentlessly trample those values. He is correct, as hundreds of Jan. 6 protesters can attest. The riotous and peaceful alike from that dark day have been subjected to rough treatment by the Washington establishment.

Unblinking Democrats — not blindfolded Lady Justice — now hold the scales of judgment and the sword of authority. In the days to come, Americans who intend to oppose the powers coming for the former president should not forget that to raise a weapon more steely than a piercing voice is to step into a prosecutorial trap set for them by their enemies. Unjust “persecution by prosecution” meant for Donald Trump could be their harrowing lot as well.