Donald Trump and American justice are discussed in an opinion
Donald Trump: The American Dream and the Trial of the First Prosecutor on a Charged High-Energy Manipulation
The former and possibly future president of the United States is now on trial in Lower Manhattan, the first criminal prosecution of an American elected to the nation’s highest office. Donald Trump has the same protections and guarantees of fairness and due process that he sought to deny to others during his term in office.
The kind of rich person Mr. Trump represents is a perfect example of the American Dream, and he told that tale on the campaign trail. That illusion was reinforced by “The Apprentice,” a heavily scripted pseudo-competition in which Mr. Trump pretended to fire people, something that in real life he generally has others do. He likes authority but doesn’t do the hard work of leadership and chooses to hire people to do the dirty work.
He liked being in the public eye a lot. Gossip columnists at his preferred tabloids received tips from Mr. Trump about his own sexual escapades. One good way to get attention without spending a fortune is to run for public office. Mr. Trump expressed interest in the presidency starting in the late 1980s, took steps in that direction in 2000 and considered it again in 2012 before being elected in 2016.
The jury will decide the case of the prosecuting ex-president Donald J. Trump in the enigmatic aftermath of the 2008 midterm elections
A jury of Americans will decide the case of Mr. Trump. It may be the only one of the four criminal cases against the former president that comes to trial before the November election. Though the election interference charges are not the most serious of those he faces, the case will determine whether 12 of his fellow Americans find him guilty of a felony — a result that most voters say they would consider to be serious.
A guiding principle of the American experiment is that the law applies to everyone equally. Any current or former elected official needs to be aware of the public’s perception of their case and have vigilance against bias. For this reason, judges and prosecutors have a duty to ensure that criminal cases are not used to influence electoral politics and that they do not favor one candidate over another.
