Trump wins another battle in this war of delay, deny, and deflect

HALIFAX—Everyone knows that Donald Trump is a one-trick phoney. If he wins, he praises the system. If he loses, he accuses the system of being rigged, corrupt, and driven by politics. The GOP has embraced this dangerous nonsense. When Hunter Biden was convicted on federal gun charges last week, Republicans called that “accountability.” When Trump—like the sitting president’s son—was convicted by a jury of his peers, they cried corruption and rigging. It's hyperbolic hypocrisy. The dubious political strategy at the GOP? Convince Americans that in the choice between a felon and a fuddy-duddy, they should choose the felon. During Trump’s recent criminal trial in New York, he went after the judge, court officers, witnesses, and the jury. He was found in contempt 10 times, but didn’t spend a day in jail. So no surprise that when Trump was convicted on all 34 felony charges of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels, he just kept dissing the system. He used Truth Social—surely the misnomer of the century—to trash the justice system, and to encourage his MAGA wing-nuts to equate what happened to him in that New York courtroom with a Stalin-era show trial. I use the term “wing-nuts” advisedly. Trump has so corrupted the leadership of the Republican Party that one Nevada GOP official said Trump should not just be supported, but “worshipped.” The ever-bootlicking Marjorie Taylor Greene compared Trump to “Jesus.” This is high praise for a guy who is the first presidential candidate in U.S. history to have a parole officer and a criminal record. And he raises money off his rap sheet. Unlike a lot of observers, I don’t take Trump’s criminal conviction as proof that he has finally been held accountable. Why the trepidation? Here's my explanation. Up until now, in this epic struggle between Trump and the rule of law, the ex-president is ahead on points. By exploiting who he is rather than what he’s done, by going after his accusers like a mob boss, by gaming the courts, he has all but neutered the justice system. Consider the fiasco of Trump’s Florida documents case. Despite the mountain of evidence that Trump took and then refused to return classified national security documents after his defeat in the 2020 election, presiding Judge Aileen Cannon is conducting the case as though she were a member of the Trump defence team. Cannon has resolved every imaginable doubt in Trump’s favour. She has delayed, obfuscated, and dithered with pre-trial pedantry rather than proceeded expeditiously to test the government’s 37-count indictment against Trump. How badly has Cannon mishandled this case? Two of her rulings were reversed by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeal, which also publicly chastised her. Still, Cannon hasn’t even been able to set a trial date, and recently decided that any such trial is now “indefinitely” delayed. When Trump said publicly that “Biden’s DOJ authorized the FBI to shoot me,” special prosecutor Jack Smith asked the judge to forbid such baseless and dangerous incitement from Trump. Cannon not only denied the motion, she also tore a strip off Smith. Bottom line in this case? This judge has now all but guaranteed that the classified documents case will not go to trial before the November presidential election. It's a win for the Orange One. The Georgia election subversion conspiracy case against Trump has also been derailed indefinitely. An Appeals Court in that state ruled that the case can’t proceed until a decision is reached on whether Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis can stay on the case. Her fitness is at issue after a romantic involvement between Willis and the person she hired as special prosecutor on the case, Nathan Wade, became public. Wade has since resigned. The Georgia case will now not be heard before the Nov. 4 election, another massive victory for Trump over the justice system. It is the same story for the ex-president’s District of Columbia election subversion case that was once scheduled to begin last March. The reason for the delay is ongoing appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court on the powers of the president. Trump has claimed full immunity from any prosecution. This is another victory for Trump over the justice system for two reasons. First, the matter will be decided by a blatantly conservative court stacked by Trump himself. And second, the Supreme Court is slow-walking its way through this case, which it could even return to the lower courts for a decision, and more appeals. Justice Sam Alito has just come through the upside-down American flag scandal, interpreted by some as a show of support for the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, or what is now referred to as “J6." And Clarence Thomas has just confirmed that he has received $4-million in gifts as a member of the Supreme Court. Neither justice will recuse themselves from cases touching Trump, or J6. Once again, Smith has been sidelined, and Trump has won another battle in this war of delay, deny, and deflect. There is very little chance this case will be heard before Americans select their next president. Which brings me back to the only case where the facts have been tested and a verdict reached, the Stormy Daniels hush-money trial. Everything now comes down to what happens on July 11, a summer day of enormous consequence. That is the day that Judge Juan Merchan will sentence Trump after his criminal conviction on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. If there is to be a comeback for the justice system in its Pier Nine brawl with Trump, if the principle that no one is above the law holds true, the ex-president must be treated like any other felon. That means jail time, just as it did for Trump fixer Michael Cohen, and as it would for any other convicted felon. And there is another reason Trump should go to the slammer. He violated his gag order 10 times during his trial. Anyone else would have been in jail long ago, not writing piddling cheques to the court. It is worth remembering that after his 10th contempt of court citation, Trump was told by Merchan that he didn’t want to send him to jail, but that would be on the table if he continued breaking the gag order. Which, of course, he did. If Merchan decides not to jail the ex-president, even if he imposes some form of house-arrest in the feathery nest of Mar-a-Lago, the message will be broadcast loud and clear. The big shots never hit the floor. And that would send an ominous message to Americans, and anyone else who cares about justice. All Trump now has to do is win the 2024 presidential election ,and he can wipe his own slate clean as he has promised to do for the J6 rioters who have been sent to prison for their crimes. Before he decides what to do in this admittedly pressure-packed situation, Merchan should bear in mind that Trump has said that he is prepared to prosecute his “political enemies” if he is elected this fall. Justice used to be defined as truth in action. Vengeance in action is a nightmare substitute. Michael Harris is an award-winning journalist and author. The Hill Times