Justice Delayed and Delayed and...
Can any of these prosecutors, prosecute?
In 1962, the New York Mets manager Casey Stengel, his team on its way to a record 120 losses, asked in frustration, “Can’t anybody here play this game?” In 2024, as teams of lawyers struggle to get Donald Trump into a courtroom, it’s time to ask a similar question -- “Can’t anyone here prosecute a case?”
Trump faces criminal charges in four different courts. In each of them – two state and two federal – prosecutors should already be standing before a judge and making the case that the former president broke the law as he tried to manipulate the elections of 2016 and 2024. Instead, unforced errors are causing delays, embarrassment, and worse for those who should be holding Trump to account. Meanwhile, those of us counting on the courts for justice rightly wonder if it will ever come.
In Atlanta, county prosecutor Fani Willis has spent more than three years preparing to try Trump on felonies he allegedly committed as he tried to flip Georgia’s 2020 election tally, which had given Biden a victory. (Remember the recorded call, in which Trump told Georgia’s top election official, “All I want to do is this, I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have. Because we won the state."
But instead of bringing her case to court, Willis is defending herself against defense demands that she be dismissed for improper behavior. She has been involved in a romantic relationship with an outside attorney Nathan Wade, whom she added to her team. Because he’s functioning as a kind of consultant, Wade has been paid more than $650,000 in taxpayer money. Precious time was lost as Willis was forced to answer pointed questions about the relationship. And though a judge found she could continue with her work, she now faces Trump’s appeal. The clock continues to tick.
In New York, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was recently forced to delay his case, which alleges crimes related to Trump’s 2016 payment of “hush” money to two women with whom he had extramarital affairs. These betrayals of his wife Melania were discovered and made public before voters went to the polls. The DA has spent years preparing to try Trump on violations of campaign laws. Then earlier this month it was discovered that due to some sort of foul-up, key documents were not shared with the defense team. The case has been delayed so that the other side can review what they just received.
On the federal level, Attorney General Merrick Garland has been making the key decisions and setting the general tone of two criminal prosecutions. In Washington, Trump is alleged to have committed crimes for his role in his followers’ attack and seizure of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. As Congress met to finalize Biden’s victory Trump obviously incited a crowd of thousands to go to the Capitol, wage combat against the vastly outnumbered police, and drive senators and members of the House out of their chambers. The proceedings were delayed until well after midnight. Just when the trial on these charges will begin is anyone’s guess.
In the other federal case, Trump is alleged to have committed crimes as he brought boxes full of classified federal documents to his Florida resort Mar-a-Largo. Here is another instance where prosecutors have spent exceedingly long period working on the case but aren’t even close to beginning a trial. In this instance, they have struggled to deal with a Trump-appointed judge who seems unwilling or incapable but still one has to ask, “Have the feds done all they can?”
There’s little doubt that the slow pace of the federal prosecutions should be placed at the feet of Attorney General Garland. Famous for his commitment to careful, even ponderous efforts to gather evidence, organize arguments, and anticipate defense strategies, Garland has watched as the cases drag on to the point where neither one is likely to be resolved before Election Day 2024. This will mean that for nearly four years Trump will have evaded the feds and those of us who felt he should be brought to justice have been denied.
As a member of the committee that swiftly reviewed and reported on the January 6 attack, I saw a team of top attorneys and investigators tackle an extremely complex set of facts, conduct more than 1,000 witnesses the present a compelling case. It can be done. Were he to witness what has happened I think Casey Stengel would be exasperated.
The immunity case delay is not due to any fault of the prosecutor. The Supreme Court should never have agreed to hear this specious idea that a president can be immune from any criminal activity while in office. That notion is garbage. Not sure why you didn’t mention this. Also why didn’t you talk about the fact that Clarence Thomas should have recused because of the obvious involvement of his wife in the January 6th insurrection? That isn’t Jack Smith’s fault. The damn Supreme Court is corrupt!
Adam, what a sad state of circumstances we have come to witness involving the rightful prosecution of tfg. The one I am most angered about is how long it took Garland and the DOJ to act after your J6 committee ended and issued its extensive report. I watched every minute of the hearings and thought that there would be no hesitation on the DOJ’s part in beginning their work. Your committee laid bare the actions of tfg and his personal “militia” in January 6; I was stunned at all that was uncovered and collaborated by credible witnesses. I was so extremely disappointed that the chicken shit Republicans (except the brave 10) didn’t vote to impeach. I understand that investigations and building a case takes time and immense attention to detail in order to lay out the facts, but I echo your sentiments. What are the courts, judges so scared of? I assume some think that it will tear the country apart, throwing us into civil unrest or maybe even a war as some have threatened, if tfg is tried, convicted and thrown into jail. But what about the expectations of the other side of that coin? What about those of us who clearly see that it tears our country apart by NOT holding him accountable to face the consequences, rightly so, of his actions? Only difference is those of us who take that position aren’t threatening violence against his supporters. This mess gets laid at the feet of those congressmen/women who passed the buck and Garland for the delay. As I’ve said before it’s up to we, the people, to save our democracy. I pray that we do.