As President Joe Biden said “no one is above the law,” after former President Donald Trump’s conviction last week, I thought to myself: “No one is beneath the law also.”
Robert Hur’s Independent Counsel investigation found Biden had broken the law, but that Biden was too feeble to stand trial. Plus, Biden ignored the Supreme Court order that his student loan forgiveness programs were unconstitutional, let the statute of limitations run out on his son Hunter Biden’s tax cases and in addition, Hunter received a plea deal for gun charges that was free of any jail time, which some Republicans criticized as a “sweetheart deal.”
So far, the conviction has had no effect on Trump’s polling numbers. Trump set a record for small donors’ donations the day after his conviction – $70 million. This trial and verdict seemed unfair to over half of the population. What the trial did do was to clearly establish the former U.S. President as a political outsider. It is clear that the political liberal elites are doing anything — legal or illegal — to prevent Trump from becoming president again.
If this can happen to a former President and billionaire fighting the liberal globalist elites, who want open borders, a weaker America, and to take our gas stoves, then this can happen to the little guy with the wrong political views, too. If this were left to stand, what would stop the powers coming after that little guy and silencing those views? We know that the Barack Obama administration used the IRS to target political opponents. In fact, the IRS had to apologize for it. But no one suffered any legal consequences using the IRS in this nefarious way.
I was struck by the schadenfreude of many Democrats at the news of Trump’s conviction. Many cheered and clapped at the news of the verdict. There are TikTok videos of liberals dancing in glee over the verdict. They do not care about the long-term implications of the verdict or how unjust the system is to Trump. From now on, will Democrat-run states rig the system to convict a Republican running for office, or will Republican states rig the system to convict a Democrat running for office?
I would not take glee if Biden were put on trial for stealing classified documents. The report cited evidence of wrongdoing, but Biden was too feeble to stand trial. However, Biden said he was fit to stand trial and not a feeble, old man running the government. And the Justice Department can still bring that case to court and let a judge and jury decide if Biden is able to stand trial.
The verdict in the Trump case gave me a sense that we are on the wrong track in America. As we are on the wrong track with inflationary woes and the difficulty of putting food on the table and gas in the tank.
Rick A. Coalwell
Somerset
(3) comments
This letter writer failed to do basic fact-checking before sending his missive to the Hudson Star Observer. Here are the facts the writer would have found had he bothered to check:
Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report concluded that “the evidence is not sufficient to convict” President Biden and that “no criminal charges are warranted.” Mr. Hur’s report did not conclude that President Biden was too feeble for trial. (See: FactCheck.org, 2/16/2024, at https://www.factcheck.org/2024/02/republicans-distort-facts-on-special-counsel-decision-not-to-charge-biden/)
The US Supreme Court issued a narrow ruling that struck down one Biden administration proposal for student loan forgiveness. The US Supreme Court has not ruled that all Biden administration student loan forgiveness programs are unconstitutional. (See: Verify, 6/30/23, at https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/student-loan/federal-student-loan-forgiveness-programs-available-after-supreme-court-ruling/536-24cc4e11-48da-4aa6-b089-ee053e4bf77e)
Hunter Biden has been indicted on tax-related and felony gun charges by Special Counsel David Weiss. A federal court denied all motions to dismiss Hunter Biden’s indictment for tax crimes. Hunter Biden does not have a plea deal on any charges. Hunter Biden currently is on trial for felony gun charges. (See: ABC News, 6/5/24, at https://abcnews.go.com/US/timeline-hunter-biden-legal-political-scrutiny/story?id=102293605)
The rule of law means that Donald Trump and his actions are subject to our nation’s laws, just as the actions of the rest of us are equally subject to our nation’s laws. The former president’s novel argument that he has absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for violations of our laws has not been upheld by any court. Because his misconduct in office and as a candidate was sufficiently egregious under our laws, the former president has been indicted by four separate grand juries in four separate criminal cases, charged with a total of 91 felonies, and convicted on all 34 felony charges in the first of his four criminal trials to conclude—a fair trial in which a jury of his peers impartially applied the law to the testimony and evidence presented in a court overseen by a conscientious judge. (See: AP News, 4/25/24, at https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-trump-capitol-riot-prosecution-immunity-72c885c07c77970d4380206f87b2d8ca; AP News, 5/31/24, at https://apnews.com/article/trump-trial-deliberations-jury-testimony-verdict-85558c6d08efb434d05b694364470aa0)
Threats to the rule of law enshrined in our US Constitution have been made by former President Trump, not by President Biden. The former president has called for the termination of our US Constitution, promised to be a dictator on day one, and pledged to misuse our legal system for revenge and retribution. (See: CNN, 12/4/22, at https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/03/politics/trump-constitution-truth-social/index.html; AP News, 12/7/23, at https://apnews.com/article/trump-hannity-dictator-authoritarian-presidential-election-f27e7e9d7c13fabbe3ae7dd7f1235c72; NYTimes, 6/5/24, at https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/05/us/trump-retribution-justice.html; The Conversation, at https://theconversation.com/trumps-rhetoric-after-his-felony-conviction-is-designed-to-distract-stoke-fear-and-ease-the-way-for-an-anti-democratic-strongman-231535?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Politics%20Weekly%20%20June%206%202024%20-%202992430464&utm_content=Politics%20Weekly%20%20June%206%202024%20-%202992430464+CID_2c61f2127f225ca9aa2e2861859b0171&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=Trumps%20rhetoric%20after%20his%20felony%20conviction%20is%20designed%20to%20distract%20stoke%20fear%20and%20ease%20the%20way%20for%20an%20anti-democratic%20strongman)
No US president directly controls the rate of inflation or the prices of groceries and gas. Nevertheless, comparing the rates of inflation and wage growth during the Trump and Biden administrations shows that wages have risen faster under Biden than Trump, and the inflation rate has fallen faster under Biden than Trump, which means income gains have more than kept up with rising prices. (See: CBO, “An Update About How Inflation Has Affected Households at Different Income Levels Since 2019”, 5/14/24, at https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60166)
A bold-faced lie: Robert Hur did NOT find Trump had broken any law (compared to Donald Trump who has been officially indicted for 88 crimes and was found guilty of 34 felonies.)
Fact matter. After the discovery of Trump’s many boxes of classified documents at Mara-a-Logo in December 2021, Biden also found a small number of classified documents in his home and office that he was not aware he had. Biden returned them immediately. Trump returned some of the documents in early 2022, but he refused to return the rest until FBI agents with a subpoena seized 33 boxes containing 11,000 documents in August, 2022. When this evidence was presented to a grand jury - how Trump had kept the classified documents and refused to return them - this jury of ordinary Americans indicted Trump on 40 criminal counts. The two cases are completely different and to pretend otherwise is a lie.
Robert Hur did not conclude in his report that President Biden had broken any laws. When a letter to the editor fails the truth test in the first few lines, there is reason to question everything that follow.
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