Editorial by Elad Hakim |
On November 5, 2024, Americans overwhelmingly re-elected President Donald J. Trump and issued a mandate to the former president to implement his policies and fix the country.
Since then, Trump has appointed various people who align with his America First agenda to serve in his new administration. While Trump’s main goal is to heal a nation that is in rapid decline, any effort to heal the nation must also include accountability against those who sought to destroy it.
By now, there is little doubt that Joe Biden’s Department of Justice, special counsel Jack Smith, and left-wing prosecutors in various states allegedly utilized the justice system as a weapon against the former president and some of his supporters.
The plan was simple yet sinister: Indict Trump on various charges and in multiple jurisdictions, most of which are strongly anti-Trump, keep Trump busy during the primaries and/or general election by way of trials and various legal proceedings, put Trump away for life, deplete him of funds, or try to prevent him from taking office by way of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Ironically, now that Trump has won reelection, Smith plans to resign before Trump can fire him.
Fortunately, most of these efforts failed, largely due to Trump’s incredible toughness and grit, and his willingness and financial ability to stand toe-to-toe against this well-funded and relentless “machine.” However, many others were not as fortunate and were forced to spend time behind bars and spend their life savings due to various politicized charges.
While the American people are in no mood to witness a revenge campaign by the Trump Department of Justice or a Republican-controlled House and Senate, there must be some accountability against those who weaponized the justice system to interfere with the 2024 election and whose conduct hurt the nation.
It is unclear what, if any, legal recourse is available against any of the individuals most responsible for these politicized prosecutions and/or abuse of power. Some have suggested the possibility of using 18 U.S.C. § 241 (conspiracy against rights) if these prosecutions continue.
At this point, it is unclear whether the Department of Justice will pursue any charges at all, whether any legitimate charges are available, or whether any legal recourse even exists.
Another alternative is for Congress to utilize its oversite and investigative powers. According to The Hill, Republicans have already requested that Smith preserve and turn over all documents relating to his investigations of the former president. According to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.):
“There were a lot of figures related to the Justice Department and on the outside of the Justice Department that used lawfare against President Trump. There needs to be very serious accountability for that, because we have to restore the people’s faith in our system of justice.”
The need for accountability does not stem from Trump’s personal desire for revenge against those who wronged him. This is not in Trump’s nature, which is why Trump did not ask his Department of Justice to pursue and prosecute various people who engaged in serious wrongdoing prior to, or during, his first term in office. Rather, accountability is needed because this conduct significantly harmed the nation, and accountability will help restore faith in the system of justice.
The United States system of justice is supposed to be blind. It should never be utilized as a weapon to obtain the upper hand for some nefarious or improper purpose. When this happens, there is no more justice. Justice Robert H. Jackson once said:
“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 the man 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.”
What happened with Trump is a perfect and frightening example of what Jackson warned us about. While Trump had the financial ability to push back, many others did not have that luxury. As a result, they faced time behind bars and lost everything.
On a narrow scale, accountability is needed to right the wrongs committed against Trump and these other individuals. On a broader scale, accountability is needed because this conduct damaged the nation, created distrust in the justice system, and showed complete disregard for the American public and the system of justice.
For example, as reported by Newsweek, “Jack Smith’s office has spent at least $50 million in its unsuccessful prosecution of Donald Trump, according to Newsweek calculations.”
Stated otherwise, the weaponization of the justice system was not only an effort to take down Trump, but an effort to take him down at the expense of the American people and the nation as a whole no matter the cost.
For these reasons, and to deter any such conduct in the future, accountability is needed.
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