Beyond Trump’s Indictment, Prosecutorial Misconduct Threatens Everyone

The media circus surrounding former President Donald Trump’s arraignment of 34 felony charges was every bit as tawdry, tiresome and predictable as every other media circus surrounding Trump.

Regardless of how it plays out over the next few months, there are a few larger lessons to be learned from it all. Among the most important, according to the Cato Institute’s Clark Neily, is the enormous power prosecutors have, and the dangers such power poses to the rule of law.

In part, it’s because the law itself has become a massive trap that makes – or provides creative prosecutors ample opportunity to make – just about anyone a possible criminal:

Anyone who has ever paid taxes, run for office, started a business, purchased a firearm, driven a car, drank alcohol, done drugs, or gambled on a football game has either committed a crime outright or has become enmeshed in such a byzantine regulatory thicket that it would be absurd for them to assert with complete confidence that they had never committed any crime for which they could in theory be prosecuted. “Show me the man and I will find you the…misdemeanor speeding offense, expired registration, open‐​container violation, illegal sports bet, improper tax deduction, unlawful campaign expenditure, unlicensed gun‐​possession charge, or literally anything to do with marijuana (still illegal under federal law!).” The list goes on, and on, and on.

“Well sure, but I never paid off a former paramour,” you say, “or interfered with an election, or stole classified documents from my prior employer and then lied to investigators about it.” OK, fine. But that’s not really the point. Rather, the point is that if some prosecutor decided they wanted to upend your life, frustrate your ambitions, or just fulfill a personal vendetta against you by combing through every aspect of your life, scrutinizing every letter, email, and text message you ever sent, and interviewing every one of your friends, co‐​workers, and former employees, looking for dirt—with the non‐​too‐​subtle message that they may have their own troubles if they fail to add to yours—you could find yourself in a world of trouble.

There’s much more at the link, including a reference to a famous saying about how prosecutors could convince a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich.

And there’s also the long litany of ways in which the prosecutorial state has debased, eroded or flat-out ended the various constitutional restrictions on its power. The overwhelming majority of it thanks to coercing suspects into surrendering their rights early in the legal process.

Unlike the vast majority of defendants in the American judicial system, Mr. Trump has a team of lawyers – including former prosecutors – who will ensure his rights and interests are protected throughout.

For everyone else who doesn’t have such courtroom backing, or has been forced to give up whatever support they may have had long before a trial starts…tough luck and enjoy prison. The state, the system, the political class and regrettably, too many other people, just don’t care.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.

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