The Struggle for the Soul of America: Trump Found Guilty: Now What?

Posted on June 1, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

Donald Trump is finally being held accountable. That is a good thing for democracy and the rule of law. Still, no one knows how Trump’s guilty verdict on all 34 felony counts will affect the November elections. Will it increase his support at the polls this fall? I seriously doubt it. If anything, the guilty finding will likely give a number of undecided voters a reason not to support him. How many go that route could be critical to the final outcome.

That does not mean, however, that those voters will support President Biden. They could stay home or vote for third-party candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. or someone else. Yet, anything that reduces Trump’s vote count should help Biden’s re-election bid.

Here are some other factors arising from the verdict that may significantly affect the election. First up is the sentencing of Trump on July 11. The harsher the sentence the more outraged Trump’s supporters will be. But I still don’t believe it will increase turnout for him in November. Rather, it will likely make the campaign uglier and turn voters off.

As important as Trump’s sentence is, presiding Judge Juan Merchan’s remarks at the sentencing hearing may be just as compelling. While a judge must remain impartial during the trial, he can be very revealing about his reasons for the sentence he is imposing. That is, Merchan can point to Trump’s outrageous behavior, his disrespect for the court and the jury, and his lack of remorse in explaining his decision for Trump’s sentence. The judge’s laying this all out in open court could sway some undecided voters not to support Trump.

Another interesting result of the verdict is how Trump’s team will handle the appeal. Until now, Trump’s strategy has been to delay all court proceedings for as long as possible, hopefully until after November. That would prevent any adverse decision from hurting his election prospects. But now that he has been found guilty, Trump may very well reverse strategies. That is, he might move for a quick appeal on the chance that an appeals court would reverse his guilty verdict before the election. While not likely, a desperate Trump might try to pull that off to improve his chances of being elected.

Then there’s the Republican National Convention beginning four days after Trump is sentenced. Given the strong support for Trump from most Republicans following the jury’s verdict, it appears that Trump will still be the Party’s nominee for president. I can’t believe the convention’s ignoring the verdict and going full tilt for a convicted felon will go over well with swing voters still trying to decide for whom to vote. By the same token, those undecided voters may not be able to stomach voting for other down-ballot Republicans who want a felon to be our next president. It’s hard to imagine how this goes well for Trump and his Republican Party.

Finally, there’s the overriding issue of the survival of American democracy. The Republicans are trying to convince the public that this whole affair is just about politics. As Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, put it: “The conviction of former President Trump on politically motivated charges is an outrage and disservice to the nation.”[1] Really?

Isn’t everything Trump does politically motivated to win the presidency, give him authoritarian power, and eliminate any opposition to his authority? Trump’s conspiring with Michael Cohen and others to conceal the fact that he had sex with a porn star while his wife was home caring for their newly born child was motivated by his desire to win the 2016 election. If moderate Republican women and others had known the truth before they voted, Hillary Clinton may very well have been our 45^th president. Our world would be a lot different today under those circumstances. But conspiring to conceal facts that could change the outcome of a presidential election is just politics according to most Republicans. Why should the American people care?

Well, the DOJ during Trump’s administration cared enough to prosecute Michael Cohen for the same campaign finance violations. He was found guilty and sentenced to three years in prison.[2] Why shouldn’t the leader of the conspiracy be treated the same way? Biden and the Democrats need to make that perfectly clear to every voter before Trump steals another election.

Bruce Berlin

A retired, public sector ethics attorney, Berlin is the author of Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America (See breakingbigmoneysgrip.com.), the founder of New Mexicans for Money Out of Politics, a former U.S. Institute of Peace fellow, and the founder and former executive director of The Trinity Forum for International Security and Conflict Resolution. He can be reached at breakingbigmoneysgrip@gmail.com.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/.

[1] https://www.yahoo.com/news/disservice-nation-former-vp-pence-154731149.html

[2] https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/michael-cohen-sentenced-3-years-prison

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Will History Repeat Itself?

Posted on March 8, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

In the summer of 1968, the Democratic Party held its national convention in Chicago to nominate its candidates for president and vice president. This summer, 56 years later, the Democrats will again gather in Chicago for their national convention.

Back then, the Vietnam War was raging. Thousands of our soldiers were dying in Southeast Asia and millions of Americans were marching against the war here at home.[1] Now, while no American soldiers are currently fighting in the Middle East, the United States is funding Israel’s war against Hamas. Thousands of innocent Gazans are dying, and Americans are again protesting.[2]

The anti-war demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic Convention were televised across the world. As the party’s nominee, Humbert Humphry, pledged to continue the war, the protests grew outside the convention hall. The scene became bloody when the Chicago police tried to turn back the demonstrators by beating them with their clubs.[3] It most likely contributed to the Democrats losing the election to former Republican vice president Richard Nixon that fall.

Now President Biden with bipartisan support is unconditionally providing billions of dollars in aid for Israel’s merciless prosecution of the war in Gaza. Despite mounting opposition, Biden has failed to call for a permanent ceasefire. If he does not change course and stop the free flow of U.S. weapons and funds to Israel, Biden will be seriously hampered in his election campaign by his support of what some are calling Israel’s genocide in Gaza.[4]

Biden and the Democrats can ill-afford this self-inflicted wound in their effort to hold onto the White House and the Senate as well as win back the House.[5] Predictions are this will be a close election.[6] We must not let history repeat itself. Instead, we must demand that Biden and the Democrats call for an immediate, permanent ceasefire, and stop the unconditional support of Israel’s war in Gaza NOW!

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moratorium_to_End_the_War_in_Vietnam#:~:text=The%20Moratorium%20to%20End%20the,Moratorium%20March%20in%20Washington%2C%20D.C.

[2] https://apnews.com/article/protest-gaza-israel-palestinians-london-29d5cd664c81654283344d1874691a4f

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Democratic_National_Convention_protests

[4] https://www.npr.org/2024/01/26/1227078791/icj-israel-genocide-gaza-palestinians-south-africa

[5] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/28/biden-netanyahu-israel-gaza-war-2024-election

[6] https://www.racetothewh.com/

The Struggle for the Soul of America: We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For

Posted on March 1, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

(Note: On Tuesday, Margaret and I began a month-long trip to Panama. So, my blog posts may be sporadic and possibly shorter this month. I’ll do the best I can, under the circumstances, until I return at the end of the month.)

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court granted cert to Trump’s appeal of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision that he does not have complete immunity from criminal liability for acts taken as president. The Court has scheduled oral argument for April 22, which means a decision would not come down until late May or, perhaps, the end of June when the Court’s 2023-24 session concludes.

Assuming Trump loses his appeal (which seems likely, but you never know with this Supreme Court), the D.C. insurrection trial will probably not begin before late summer or early fall. It’s highly doubtful a decision would be rendered before the November election. Clearly, a victory for Trump.

Bill Kristol recently referred to a quote from Judge Learned Hand’s 1944 Spirit of Liberty speech regarding what this truly means:

I often wonder whether we do not rest our hopes too much upon constitutions, upon laws and upon courts. These are false hopes; believe me, these are false hopes. Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can even do much to help it.[1]

If you had any doubt before, it’s now crystal clear the Supreme Court does not uphold the principles enshrined in the Constitution or serve the interests of the American people. The same may be said of the Congress as well. If it had adhered to Constitutional principles, Trump would have been found guilty by the Senate after he was impeached by the House in 2021. And even the Department of Justice cannot be relied upon by the American people. If it had served the people’s interests, Trump would have been brought to trial long before now for fomenting the January 6^th insurrection.

Yet, there is a silver lining here. All those who still believe in democracy – Democrats, Never Trump Republicans, and Independents – now know that they, including everyone reading this and myself, must double their efforts to ensure the re-election of Biden and save our democratic republic. By the time the election rolls around next fall, very few voters will have any question about Trump’s efforts to provoke the January 6^th insurrection and overturn the 2020 election. Of course, Trump’s loyal followers will stand by “their president” no matter what. That’s what cults do.

As Ben Franklin said on the last day of the Constitutional Convention on September 18, 1787, we have a republic, “if you can keep it.” It is now up to us, the American people, after 237 years, to make certain that we keep it. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1737454546073309352

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Trump’s Border Betrayal

Posted on February 8, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

One of Trump and the Republican Party’s top priorities is the urgent need to protect our southern border. They have been hammering Biden and the Democrats for years about their failure to secure the border and stop massive illegal immigration into the States from Mexico. To that end, the GOP has been planning to make the lack of border security a major issue in this year’s elections.

Then finally, after months of negotiations, Senate Republicans and Democrats reached a bipartisan agreement on a border security bill over last weekend.[1] Suddenly, Trump opposed the deal[2] hoping to keep this campaign issue front and center while urging Republicans to turn their backs on their own solution. By tying Ukraine’s military assistance to tough border security, Republicans believed that the Democrats would never accept the compromise, allowing them to continue blaming the Dems for the uncontrollable surge of migrants at the border.[3] It appears they were very mistaken.

But it gets even worse for Trump and his GOP lackeys. In both the 2016 and 2020 elections, the U.S. Border Patrol union endorsed Trump for president due to his hardline stand on immigration reform. The union has repeatedly slammed Biden for his handling of our border with Mexico. But on Monday the labor organization which represents 18,000 agents endorsed the Border Act of 2024 stating it is “far better than the current status quo.”[4] At the same time, Trump denigrated thousands of hardworking union members by contending that “only a fool, or a radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill.”[5]

Due to Trump’s opposition and the stranglehold he has on his party, the bipartisan bill did not pass.[6] Ironically, that will hand Biden and the Democrats a big campaign issue. They can now rightly claim that the Republicans killed the solution to one of America’s most pressing problems. Immigration/border security polls alongside the economy as the two most important issues to voters this year. And the Democrats plan to make sure the public knows who was responsible for not solving the problem when the opportunity presented itself.[7]

Trump’s flipflop on border security may well hurt his election chances in another important way as well. Obtaining endorsements from major unions provides presidential candidates with significant support. In addition to campaign contributions, unions supply campaign volunteers, lists of voters, and more. Millions of Americans either belong to a union or have friends or relatives who are members.

The Border Patrol union’s support of Biden after previously twice backing Trump[8] sends a strong message to working-class voters. It may help convince other unions to get on the Biden bandwagon, too. In the last year the UAW, the very large autoworkers union, endorsed Biden, as did the AFL-CIO with its 12.5 million members.[9] The powerful Teamsters which endorsed Biden in 2020 is now deciding whom to support this year. That Trump is losing favor with the workers of America is a good sign for Biden and our democracy.

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-senate-unveils-118-billion-bipartisan-bill-tighten-border-security-aid-2024-02-04/

[2] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4448556-trump-calls-border-bill-a-death-wish-for-republican-party-dont-be-stupid/

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/us/politics/border-republicans-ukraine-bill.html

[4] https://news.yahoo.com/conservatives-balk-u-border-patrol-234523412.html

[5] https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4448556-trump-calls-border-bill-a-death-wish-for-republican-party-dont-be-stupid/

[6] https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/senate-vote-border-bill-aid-02-07-24/index.html

[7] https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/immigration-emerges-key-2024-wedge-issue-trump-vulnerability/story?id=106635907; https://news.yahoo.com/biden-determined-stunning-trump-backed-051927272.html

[8] https://www.mediaite.com/politics/border-patrol-union-that-endorsed-trump-comes-out-in-favor-of-bill-he-staunchly-opposes/

[9] https://aflcio.org/press/releases/afl-cio-votes-endorse-president-biden-re-election; https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2024-01-24/uaw-backs-biden-in-major-2024-endorsement

The Struggle for the Soul of America: We’re in for a Wild Election Year!

Posted on January 30, 2024 by Author: Bruce Berlin

There’s never been anything like the 2024 election year. Every other day I hear a different scenario of how the presidential election could be radically changed.

First, Biden and Trump are the two oldest candidates to ever run for president of our country. One or both of them could die or become incapacitated before election day. Neither looks like they’re in great shape.

Second, the courts could find Trump ineligible to run under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment and knock him out of the race. Section 3 bars anyone who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” against the country from holding federal office.[1]

The Colorado Supreme Court has already held Trump ineligible to be on its primary ballot based on Section 3.[2] The former president immediately appealed its decision to the U.S. Supreme Court which will hear oral arguments very soon on February 8^th. Prominent conservative legal scholars who are members of the Federalist Society, an influential conservative advocacy group, agreed that the Court could disqualify Trump under the Fourteenth Amendment. They wrote that Section 3 is “self-executing, operating as an immediate disqualification from office, without the need for additional action by Congress.” They then concluded that Trump could be rendered ineligible for election.[3]

From a liberal perspective, Bruce Ackerman, Yale Professor of Law and Political Science, offered a different angle in reaching a similar conclusion. He contends that “originalism,” that is, the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment as it was intended at its origin, requires Trump’s exclusion from the race for president.

Ackerman argues that the Colorado court “found that Trump’s support of the Proud Boys, which played a key role in the Jan. 6 riot, represented a paradigm case of “insurrection” as it was originally understood at the time the amendment was enacted.” And, that understanding is supported by “leading originalist scholars and jurists.”[4]

Additionally, Trump’s three appointments to the Supreme Court, “Justices Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett,…proudly proclaim(ed) their adherence to “originalism” at their Senate confirmation hearings.” Ackerman notes it was also their “basis for repudiating Roe v. Wade and the constitutional right to an abortion in Dobbs.”[5]

In effect, these three justices are trapped by their own doctrines. How could they use originalism to deny women the right to an abortion and not apply it to deny Trump the right to run for president? Ackerman believes that “if the three Trump appointees stick to their originalist principles and vote to disqualify him from office, the justices would actually strengthen American democracy and might help ease the country’s sharp divides — while also bolstering a beleaguered Supreme Court.”[6]

Whatever the Court decides will apply to all fifty states, not just Colorado. Given the Colorado presidential primary, along with those in 15 other states and territories, is March 5^th, just five weeks away, the Court should decide pretty quickly. A decision to throw Trump off the ballot would drastically change the election and might even result in widespread protest and violence. That last factor could play a role in the Court’s decision as well.

This is just one of several wild cards in this year’s election. I will explore others in the coming weeks and months.

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66690276

[2] https://apnews.com/article/trump-insurrection-14th-amendment-2024-colorado-d16dd8f354eeaf450558378c65fd79a2

[3] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66690276

[4] https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/01/25/supreme-court-originalism-trump-ballot-eligibility-00137666

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Trump and the Republican Party Represent a Real Fascist Threat to American Democracy

Posted on September 23, 2023 by Author: Bruce Berlin

In my last blog, I noted Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer would be my choice for the Democratic nomination for president if Biden stepped down, which, for a short time, seemed possible. Since it’s now clear to me that Biden will not be stepping down, I won’t go into why I favored Whitmer as I had originally intended. Still, keep an eye on her. She will most likely be in the Democrats’ top tier for the 2028 nomination.

But for 2024, I will strongly support Biden assuming he will be the Democratic nominee. In fact, I will support any Democrat over Trump or whomever the Republicans nominate. While there are many reasons for my position, chief among them is that the Republican Party is anti-democratic and veering toward fascism.

While this may sound alarmist, the American people need to be clear about what the Republican Party is up to. New York Times opinion columnist Charles Blow recently observed that Republicans “have turned their backs on democracy.” Since they realize they are becoming a minority party, Blow concludes that the Republicans “want to devise a plan for minority rule.”[1]

That plan has a strong fascist tint to it. A mass political movement, fascism “emphasizes extreme nationalism, militarism, and the supremacy of both the nation and the single, powerful leader over the individual citizen.”[2] This is exactly what Trump and his MAGA stormtroopers are fighting for.

The great majority of Republicans back Trump. If he wins the presidency next year, the New York Times reports that Trump intends “a sweeping expansion of presidential power over the machinery of government,…reshaping the structure of the executive branch to concentrate far greater authority directly in his hands…” He plans “to alter the balance of power by increasing the president’s authority over every part of the federal government…” and suppressing all opposition.[3]

Miles Taylor, the former chief of staff in Trump’s Department of Homeland Security, interviewed numerous Trump aides and GOP leaders who know the ex-president. Here’s what they believe would happen if Trump or another MAGA candidate wins the White House next year:

First, the entire executive branch would be weaponized. The military would be deployed on U.S. soil to crush protests. Executive agencies would be politicized, focusing on actions to solidify and enhance Trump’s supreme authority.

Second, Congress would be neutralized, and GOP objectors muzzled..

Third, the justice system would be used to punish the MAGA movement’s enemies. The FBI would be used for revenge.[4]

Whatever doubts we may have about another four years of President Biden, they pall in comparison to the dangers a second Trump presidency presents. It is not too early to sound the alarm and motivate our friends, family, and colleagues to engage in the fight to save our democracy from the dire threat that Trump and his MAGA followers pose.

Bruce Berlin

P.S. I will be traveling out of the country for the next two weeks. My blog will resume the week of October 9.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/opinion/republican-party-anti-democracy.html

[2] https://world101.cfr.org/contemporary-history/world-war/what-fascism

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/us/politics/trump-plans-2025.html

[4] https://time.com/6294052/new-trump-presidency-would-be-even-worse/

The Struggle for the Soul of America: The Beginning of the End for Donald Trump

Posted on August 5, 2023 by Author: Bruce Berlin

Many thought this day would never come. My gut told me that American democracy would not survive if it let Donald Trump off the hook. Then, on August 1, 2023, more than two and a half years after the January 6^th attack on our nation’s Capitol, Trump was indicted for conspiring to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The former president is finally being held accountable for his treasonous conduct.

While there is no guarantee that justice will prevail, there is now a clear and convincing path to Trump’s being found guilty as charged. For those who still remain skeptical, consider these factors:

The Judge Assigned to the Case. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, nominated to the bench by President Barack Obama and confirmed by a 95-0 bipartisan Senate vote, will oversee the case. She has stood out as one of the toughest punishers of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6^th, even handing down harsher sentences than Justice Department prosecutors recommended. At one sentencing hearing, Judge Chutkan explained, “It is not patriotism, it is not standing up for America to stand up for one man – who knows full well that he lost – instead of the Constitution he was trying to subvert.”¹

In November 2021, Judge Chutkan ruled against Trump in a prior hearing when she refused his request to block the release of documents to the U.S. House’s Jan. 6 committee by asserting executive privilege.²

The Trial Venue. The January 6^th conspiracy case will be tried in Washington, D.C., a pretty progressive city with a multicultural population. Unlike the Mar-a-Lago documents case in Florida, the jury pool will not be drawn from a Republican-friendly area more inclined to look favorably upon the former president.

Trump has already questioned whether an impartial jury can be seated in D.C. But Judge Chutkan previously ruled in the case of one January 6^th defendant that the assumption the jury pool would be politically biased against them was “not an appropriate basis for changing venue.” She found that “Jurors’ political leanings are not, by themselves, evidence that those jurors cannot fairly and impartially consider the evidence presented and apply the law as instructed by the court.”³ Judge Chutkan will not permit the trial to be moved to another venue.

The Timing of the Trial. It is critical that the case be tried before the November 2024 presidential election. The American people must know the outcome of this trial before they go to the polls, assuming Trump is the GOP nominee, which now seems likely. But Trump and his attorneys will do everything they can to delay the trial until after the election. They will argue that they need more time for discovery and pre-trial motions in such an important case.

Additionally, Trump will contend that the government had over two years to prepare its case, and, in all fairness, he should have just as much time to get ready for the trial. In fact, Jack Smith, the special prosecutor handling the case, was not appointed until November 18, 2022, less than nine months ago. Prior to that, the Department of Justice was focusing on prosecuting people who participated in the January 6^th attack on the Capitol. Preparing the case against Trump was not the DOJ’s focus until Smith came on board. Thus, Smith can argue that giving Trump, who has known for several months that an indictment was coming, another nine months to get ready for trial would be equivalent to what the prosecutor has had to put his case together.

The 1974-75 Watergate case involved high-level officials in the Nixon administration who were charged and convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice. It was a complex political trial comparable to the January 6^th insurrection case. President Nixon was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in that case.⁴The seven defendants were indicted on March 1, 1974, and tried and convicted in January 1975, less than a year later.⁵Given the Watergate precedent, Trump’s trial could be completed by next summer.

Trump already has two other trials scheduled for next year. In one of them, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has signaled that he is ready to set aside former President Trump’s March 2024 trial date in New York to make way for a possible trial related to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s January 6^th insurrection trial.⁶That would make a Spring 2024 trial date for the insurrection case feasible. It would also provide Trump’s attorneys with approximately nine months to prepare for trial.

The Prosecutor. Special Counsel Smith has a reputation for winning tough cases against war criminals, mobsters, and crooked cops.⁷As a former prosecutor for the NM Public Education Department, I know that prosecutors do not bring charges against someone unless they are confident that they have the evidence to prove their case. I’m sure Smith has that confidence as well.

Smith called for a speedy trial in this case.⁸One very significant indicator of Smith’s desire to bring this case to trial as soon as possible is that despite noting six other co-conspirators, none of them were indicted. Indicting others would have required more discovery and pre-trial motions which would have been more reason to extend the trial date. Smith is well aware of the importance of trying and winning this case before next year’s election.

The Key Witnesses. Almost all of the key witnesses in this case are credible Republicans, most of whom were appointed by or closely associated with Trump. Bill Barr, Trump’s former attorney general, confirmed that Trump “knew well he lost the election.”⁹

Former Vice President Pence stated that Trump pushed him to reject the Electoral vote count on January 6^th in violation of his Constitutional role and send the election to the House of Representatives.¹⁰There are many more GOP witnesses of high standing ready to testify how Trump plotted to overthrow the government. The picture they will paint is of a power-hungry tyrant itching to turn American democracy into an autocracy under his total control.¹¹The DOJ and the American people cannot allow this to happen.

The time has come. For Donald Trump, it’s the beginning of the end.

Bruce Berlin

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66383603

https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/09/politics/trump-documents-january-6-committee-national-archives-judge-ruling/index.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2023/08/03/trump-wants-to-move-jan-6-trial-to-west-virginia-heres-why-thats-unlikely/?sh=454a658e3913

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watergate_Seven#:~:text=Nixon%20who%20were%20indicted%20by,a%20president%20was%20so%20named

https://www.history.com/news/watergate-scandal-timeline-nixon

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-trial-schedule-shift-isnt-out-question-alvin-bragg-suggests-1816132

https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/newsmaker-who-is-jack-smith-special-counsel-who-brought-trump-indictment-2023-08-02/

https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-2020-election-probe-08-01-23/h_9c00612a136c29eb3ddf91fce31b9c8b

https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/03/politics/bill-barr-trump-arraignment-2020-election/index.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wevombMsZFY

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/us/politics/trump-plans-2025.html

The Struggle for the Soul of America: The Downfall of Donald J. Trump

Posted on January 8, 2023 by Author: Bruce Berlin

As we begin 2023, the future holds many uncertainties for Donald J. Trump. While no one knows his fate for certain, here’s how I see what’s coming for the former president and America’s number one grifter.

Donald Trump will be indicted before this coming summer. In my view, Special Counsel Jack Smith was hired by Attorney General Merrick Garland to prosecute the case against Trump, not to close it. Garland believed that putting Smith, someone outside the Justice Department, in charge of the case would make the prosecution less political. Whether that turns out to be the case remains to be seen and, in fact, may be irrelevant at this point.

Just this past week, Smith hired two seasoned attorneys who “have prosecuted some of the most high-profile public corruption targets of both political parties in recent years.”[1] Those targets included former Virginia Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell, current New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez and former presidential candidate Democratic Sen. John Edwards.

If Smith thought that the DOJ didn’t have the evidence to indict Trump, he wouldn’t now be hiring prosecutors experienced in handling complex public corruption cases. As a former New Mexico Department of Education prosecuting attorney, I know that prosecutors do not bring charges unless they are convinced that they have the evidence needed to convict. That would be especially true in the case of a former president.

Last November two reports by veteran prosecutors and top legal experts analyzed two criminal investigations into Trump. One involved Trump’s solicitation to commit election fraud including a call to Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger asking him to “find” 11,780 votes. In total, that report finds at least 11 charges that could be filed against Trump resulting from his efforts in Georgia. The other report explored the mishandling of sensitive government documents at Mar-a-Lago. Both reports concluded that “there is enough evidence to bring charges against the former president.”[2]

As a result, I believe Trump will be tried and convicted by the end of this year. His trial cannot be allowed to cloud the 2024 presidential primary season.

It’s difficult to predict the sentence Trump will receive for his crimes. A friend of mine recently suggested Trump would be placed under house arrest but would not have to serve any jail time. That would be letting Trump off way too easy for attempting to overthrow our government. I don’t believe a federal judge would be so lenient for such appalling crimes, especially by a former president. At the least, Trump will receive a multi-year suspended sentence, which would put him on strict probation, though I feel he should spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Whatever the sentence, Trump is sure to appeal. Ultimately, his fate will lie in the hands of the Supreme Court, ironically including the three justices he appointed to the Court. I’m thinking that at least five justices will have the decency and integrity to uphold his conviction and sentence.

Finally, there’s Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign. Assuming he is convicted, Trump’s sentence must include invoking the 14^th Amendment provision preventing any person from ever again holding public office who having previously “taken an oath…as an officer of the United States… to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.”[3]

On the other hand, if Trump somehow avoids prosecution or is found not guilty, he still will not be elected president in 2024. The results of the 2020 and 2022 elections clearly demonstrated that Trump and his handpicked candidates are losers. The Republican Party hates losers. Trump’s base is shrinking[4] and will continue to do so as more and more evidence of his misdeeds are revealed to the public during his likely unprecedented nationally televised trial.

In any event, Trump’s days are numbered.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

P.S. I want to take this opportunity to again thank my partner, Margaret Lubalin, for another year of suburb editing of my blog. She’s the best.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-01-06/special-counsel-jack-smith-hires-anti-corruption-prosecutors-in-trump-probe

[2] https://thehill.com/regulation/national-security/3742386-for-experts-the-evidence-in-two-probes-compels-charging-trump/

[3] https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-14th-amendment-could-prevent-trump-from-office-2021-2

[4] https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/12/13/trump-support-gop-2024-presidential-race-poll/10882346002/

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Trump Indictment Coming Soon Because No One Is Above the Law

Posted on October 15, 2022 by Author: Bruce Berlin

Donald J. Trump will be indicted before the spring of next year. Many of us, of course, believe he should already have been indicted and put on trial. But Attorney General Merrick Garland is a very deliberate man. He was not about to push for indicting Trump before the midterms and consequently be accused of playing politics with the indictment, not that he won’t get that pushback whenever an indictment does come.

Garland has made it very clear that he stands by the basic American principle that “no one is above the law.”[1] In the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the U.S. Capitol’s final public hearing this past Thursday, the Committee laid out a compelling case that Trump broke several federal laws.[2] Those include conspiracy to defraud the government, obstruction of justice and inciting a rebellion.[3] Now it is up to Garland and the Justice Department to act.

While a federal grand jury has been investigating allegations against Trump for many months, just recently the Department “issued over 30 more subpoenas to people within Trump’s orbit to appear before the federal grand jury.”[4] Then, on Thursday, the same day as the House Select Committee summed up its case against Trump, Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell denied Trump’s claim of executive privilege, requiring that former Vice President Pence‘s chief of staff Marc Short testify before the grand jury.[5]

Judge Howell ruled that Short probably possessed information important to the Justice Department’s criminal investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol that was not available from other sources.[6] Howell’s decision opens the door for the testimony of the recipients of those 30 subpoenas, many of whom, if not all, would be claiming executive privilege if not for Howell’s ruling. Their testimony will likely give the DOJ a good deal more evidence to bolster its already strong case against Trump.

Still, the DOJ has to wrap up its inquiry and bring whatever formal charges it can against Trump sooner rather than later. The Department must realize that it’s window of opportunity is time limited. Once the 2024 presidential election cycle begins in earnest later next year, Trump will use every trick he can to make a political circus out of the Department’s prosecution, not that he won’t do that whenever he is indicted. In which case, the prosecution could drag on and public opinion could turn against the Department. Thus, the DOJ must move quickly in the new year to bring charges against Trump and proceed to trial as early as possible next summer.

Garland has no other choice since no one is above the law.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5024451/ag-garland-charging-president-law

[2] https://www.npr.org/2022/10/13/1125333531/jan-6-hearing-recap-takeaways-trump-subpoena

[3] https://www.businessinsider.com/jan-6-panel-trump-broke-laws-riot-2020-election-lost-2022-6

[4] https://time.com/6212677/donald-trump-investigations-explained/

[5] https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/10/14/marc-short-grand-jury-testify-pence-trump/

[6] Ibid.

The Struggle for the Soul of America: Trump Grapples for a Lifeboat as He Sinks Deeper into Troubled Waters

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Author: Bruce Berlin

In the last month almost all the headlines have focused on former President Trump’s mishandling and concealing classified documents belonging to the government. Until very recently, it seemed like an open and shut case. Trump knowingly took the documents that belonged to the government. When he was asked to return them, he claimed he had. But a court-ordered search of Mar-a-Lago revealed that he still had many such documents in his possession in violation of federal law.

To no one’s surprise, Trump devised a scheme to delay the DOJ’s prosecution of this case. He got one of his hand-picked judges, U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon, to order that a special master examinethe seized documents, telling prosecutors they cannot use the material until it is reviewed.[1] While legal experts believe the judge had no legal support for her ruling[2] and the Justice Department immediately appealed Cannon’s decision,[3] it is an open question as to the extent Trump’s maneuver will hamper the wheels of justice.

Though many are dismayed by his latest ploy, Trump is still in a heap of trouble. Former high ranking Justice Department lawyer Peter Keisler noted, “If the department concludes that the former president or others in his circle intentionally sought to deceive the government in order to obstruct its investigation, that would significantly elevate the seriousness of this already very serious matter.”[4]

From what we now know, it sure looks like Trump intentionally sought to deceive the government and obstruct justice. Nevertheless, his duplicity could unfortunately delay prosecuting him in this matter for some time.

Regardless, Trump is sinking deeper into troubled waters and his legal jeopardy will not go away. In fact, the DOJ’s continuing investigation into the January 6 insurrection and the conspiracy to have alternative electors overturn the 2020 election in a number of states will likely now receive greater scrutiny due to the delay in the concealment of government documents probe.

Former Trump White House lawyer Ty Cobb (not the baseball hall of famer) contends that the chances of Trump being indicted by the Department of Justice are “very high.” He recently explained that Trump’s “interfering with Pence…trying to persuade him in a very aggressive effort not to certify the election, and to send certain electors back, I think that was criminal.”[5] He believes Trump’s most serious legal problems are due to the obstructive activity he took in connection with the Jan. 6 proceeding…and the attempts to interfere in the election count in Georgia, Arizona, Pennsylvania and perhaps Michigan.”[6]

Still, there will be no resolution of any of this until after November’s election. Neither the DOJ nor the states’ prosecutors will want any hint that their actions are politically motivated. Yet Trump’s obsession with being in the limelight will clearly color this year’s elections as well as those in 2024. Sink or swim, Trump just can’t help himself.

Bruce Berlin, J.D.

Subscribe to this blog at https://breakingbigmoneysgrip.com/my-blog-3/. Join the movement to revive our democracy. Together we can save the soul of America.

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/08/justice-appeals-trump-documents-special-master/

[2] https://truthout.org/articles/trump-appointed-judge-rejects-amicus-brief-in-bizarre-move-critics-say/

[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/09/08/justice-appeals-trump-documents-special-master/

[4] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/09/01/republican-lawyers-trump-documents/

[5] https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/09/ty-cobb-former-trump-white-house-lawyer-says-he-violated-constitution.html

[6] Ibid.