Photo of jail cell, National Museum of Crime and Punishment, by Zaid Hamid at Wikipedia
"Time's up, DOJ," says former U.S. attorney Andrew Weissmann, with Harvard Law School professor emeritus Laurence Tribe echoing him: time to stop the foot-dragging and indict the criminal who formerly occupied the White House, Donald J. Trump. The cry for Merrick Garland to indict Donald Trump is growing louder and louder following the recent elections and Trump's action yesterday failing to appear to testify under subpoena, while indicating he'll announce a presidential run today.
Greg Olear, "It's the Time of the Season for Garland":
We now know that the “Americans will riot if Trump is denied” rationale, like the “red wave at the midterms” narrative, is a bullshit MAGA fantasy, unfounded in reality. The ballot box—the only poll that matters—proved it. As Mary Trump and many other commentators have pointed out, Americans will take to the streets if Donald Trump is indicted—but to celebrate, not to protest.
This isn’t hard to understand: Donald John Trump is a filthy criminal, and in the United States, no one is supposed to be above the law—especially a former president. Setting aside the many crimes he committed before taking office—crimes, including rape and sexual assault, that the mainstream media blithely ignored in its coverage of him in 2015-16—FPOTUS had himself a veritable crime spree in the White House. There were the highly lucrative emoluments violations. There was the serial obstruction of justice laid out in the Mueller Report, which was intended to be a blueprint for indictment. There was the attempted extortion of Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine (which seems like a much bigger deal now) that led to Impeachment #1. There was the sabotage of the pandemic response resulting in over a million dead Americans. And there was the insurrection, the fucking coup attempt, which, as the January 6th Committee hearings have made clear, was Trump’s doing. To not indict Trump would be an abrogation of Garland’s duty as the Attorney General of the United States, and make the Justice Department, already corrupted by Jeff Sessions, Matthew Whitaker, and Bill Barr, a laughingstock.
For a run-down of the criminal actions for which the former White House occupant has not been indicted, see Lucian K. Truscott, "The many acts Trump hasn't been indicted for."
In defense of Merrick Garland, Marcy Wheeler, "Merrick Garland Hasn’t Done the Specific Thing You Want Because DOJ Has Been Busy Doing Things They Have to Do First" offers a detailed list of items on a checklist DOJ has to tick off before it can — if this is, indeed, its goal — move to an indictment of Trump.
Meanwhile, a valuable reminder from Tom Scocca, "Don’t Be Fooled, Trump’s Hold on the G.O.P. Is Stronger Than Ever":
Belief in Donald Trump means never having to face the facts. … The leader’s great promise to his followers has always been that he will liberate them from consequences.
One law for Trump and the Republicans. Another for the rest of us. This is the nation they want to shape for all of us, with Supreme Court complicity.