Contempt of Court by Geoff Carter « The Pen in Hand Blog

Artwork by Michael DiMilo

By Geoff Carter

“We are a nation of laws with respect and recognition of the rule of law. We are not an imperialist government with a monarch abiding by the rule of one man.”

–Senator Marsha Blackburn

The rule of law. Everyone is equal before the law. The law is the great leveler. Noble quotes, great ideas, and even nobler aspirations. Too bad that—under the gun—these are turning out to be hollow words. For nearly two hundred and fifty years, the United States of America has somehow survived as a working model of democracy. We’ve endured a brutal and devastating Civil War, a Great Depression, unfettered capitalism, and civil unrest—although the last could be argued to be a sign of a healthy and thriving democracy, but in the past two years, the US has been faced with one of the greatest crises in its history. Our government was very nearly toppled by an unexpected and well-planned coup attempt.

On January 6^th, 2021, a mob of insurrectionists, incited by lame duck president Donald Trump’s false assertions that the election had been stolen from him, attacked the Capitol Building with the clear intent to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power between the Trump and Biden administrations. That this insurrection was a well-choreographed attempt to halt the certification of the electoral vote in a bald power grab has been established in the painstaking January 6^thHouse Committee, spearheaded by Representatives Liz Cheney and Jamie Raskin. Information gleaned during this investigation was instrumental in the grand jury indictments of Donald Trump in Washington, D.C., Florida, and Fulton County, Georgia. And then two separate grand juries found probable cause to charge him with everything from conspiracy to fraud to election interference.

According to NBC News, the indictment charged “Trump with conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction; and conspiracy against the right to vote and to have one’s vote counted.” In a routine part of the hearing, Trump, like any defendant, was warned not to discuss the case with any witnesses without lawyers present. Of course, true to form, Trump disregarded these dictates and less than twenty-four hours later posted a message on social media: “IF YOU’RE COMING AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” Later that week, at the request of the prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan issued a protective order prohibiting the defendant from talking about sensitive portions of evidence made available to the defense during the discovery process. The judge warned Trump not to make any statements that could intimidate witnesses or taint the jury pool, stating that any actions of this nature would necessitate the need for holding a trial as soon as possible.

Trump paid no attention. Before his indictment for conspiracy under the RICO law in Georgia, Trump warned former Georgia Lt. Governor Jeff Duncan not to testify to the grand jury. Hardly a non-intimidating statement. He has also continued to insult and berate prosecutors Jack Smith and Fani Willis as well as Judge Chutkan. He has called Mr. Smith “deranged”, Ms. Willis “corrupt”, and claimed that Judge Chutkan is biased and unfair.

Trump continues to make and to repost inflammatory statements that, it could be argued, are designed to intimidate and threaten witnesses as well as jurists. Some legal scholars have been crying foul, stating that any other defendant who had issued such statements and blatantly ignore a judge’s dictates would have been jailed by now. Of course, the ex-president is hardly just any defendant; he is a celebrity, and a master of marketing, and a manipulator of the media who has cultivated a nearly cultlike following. He is also leading the Republican primary race for president. Trump and his lawyers are claiming that Trump the candidate has a right to free speech and any effort to muzzle him is a breach of his first amendment rights—an argument that conveniently ignores the fact that he has been indicted four times and is facing north of ninety felony charges.

This of course begs the question if every American is equal under the law. Common sense would answer with a resounding no.

The American justice system—like every other American institution—is a capitalist institution and therefore more accessible—and responsive—to the rich. The law, medicine, legislation, education, and even philanthropy, all respected American institutions, run on the engine of capitalism and cannot exist in an ideological vacuum. The best doctors and lawyers cost more. Good schools cost more. Good lobbyists (legislators by proxy) cost more. So, the wealthy get better breaks in court—and almost everywhere else. Advantage Trump.

Beyond that is the ex-president’s right to run for office. At what point do his First Amendment rights to speak to voters infringe the right for the people to hold a fair trial? For his opinions about witnesses, jurists, and grand jury members to be cut off? While Trump himself might not be saying some of this stuff, he is reposting it—and his minions have followed his lead and—among other digressions—have been publishing the names and addresses of the Fulton County Grand Jury members, sent death threats to various officials and more.

Donald Trump has proven himself to be a menace and a danger to the country. He allegedly masterminded the January 6^thcoup attempt. He took a huge number of classified documents from the White House to his private residence in Mar-a-Lago, stored them in insecure locations, and even allegedly waved them in front of strangers at lunch. He has been recorded on tape demanding that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger “find” him 11,780 votes. His social media posts have sparked incidents of violence against those who have dared oppose him. He allegedly conspired to hire fake electors. He paid hush money to a porn star. He will stop at nothing to intimidate and bully those who oppose him. Yet this man still has the power to control millions. After his loss in the 2020 presidential election, he was somehow able to convince his people that the election was stolen. He was able to persuade them to attack their own government, to sack their own Capitol. They follow him blindly, without reason or logic. They are probably his most dangerous tool. One of his followers posted the names, photos, and addresses of the grand jury members who indicted him.

The threats, the stalking, the hate mail, and the attacks continue. Will Judge Chutkan impose a gag order on the ex-president? Will she send him to jail? Any other defendant would probably already be incarcerated. Sam Bankman-Fried, a cryptocurrency whiz kid had his pretrial agreement dissolved after he intimidated witnesses. He went to jail for doing exactly what Trump did.

What if Trump were treated like a regular guy? What if they threw him in jail? How would his followers react? The truth is we can’t afford to let him get away with his crimes. If we do, he—or somebody else—will do it again and keep doing it until they get what they want—the throne. If he can intimidate and terrorize anyone he chooses at will, he will be guilty of a worse crime than anything he has been accused of.

If Mr. Trump continues polluting the jury pool and scaring witnesses, he needs to be punished. Gag him. He is a criminal who happens to be running for president of the United States, (more than once), but his candidacy should not allow him to flout the law.

Donald Trump is rich (at least presently. He does have a lot of legal fees). He’s an ex-president. Because of this elitist status, and because the Trump people will do whatever he says, this man is and, by all metrics, will continue to be a clear and present danger.

Even if he is gagged or incarcerated, Donald Trump will be a threat. He will continue to pettifog, incite, and instigate no matter where he is. It’s been done. After all, Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf in prison. What could Donald Trump do, even without his gigantic electronic megaphone? I suspect a lot. We know what he wants. He wants to be king. If we’re not careful, that might be exactly where he ends up.