Senate Republicans, too weak to convict Trump, should pray New York prosecutors lock him up

[marmar]

Senate Republicans, too weak to convict Trump, should pray New York prosecutors lock him up
Forget about impeachment, Republicans who want Trumpism without Trump's baggage should want his imprisonment

By AMANDA MARCOTTE
FEBRUARY 23, 2021 6:07PM


(Salon) On Monday, the Supreme Court gave the Republican party an enormous gift when it granted federal prosecutors in New York permission to access tax returns and other financial records for Donald Trump. The former president remains under investigation by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who spent much of the last four years going up against the powers of the White House in a bid to force Trump, who is almost certainly guilty of tax fraud and campaign finance violations, into opening his accounting books. Now there's a very real chance that investigation can finally begin in earnest, and Trump may actually face real legal consequences — can we even dream of prison? — for his life of crime.

Vance is a Democrat and Trump has latched on to that fact to paint the entire investigation as a partisan witch hunt. Unsurprisingly, "political Witch Hunt" was his exact wording in a released "statement" that was really more of a diatribe from the Twitter-deprived ex-president. He also whined that this "is all Democrat-inspired in a totally Democrat location, New York City and State, completely controlled and dominated by a heavily reported enemy of mine, Governor Andrew Cuomo," even though Cuomo plays no part in the choices of federal, state or local prosecutors.

....(snip)....

It's no wonder. If Republican leaders know what's good for them, they should want nothing more than for Trump to go to prison, ideally for a long time. It would be the perfect solution for the current conundrum facing the GOP. On one hand, they are addicted to Trump, dependent on him for his much-ballyhooed "base" of cranks and conspiracy theorists. They also generally support his agenda of gutting democracy, even if some of them balk at the violence of his methods. On the other hand, there is no doubt that many in Republican leadership are worried about Trump's excesses and chaos — he did almost get his own vice president murdered, lest we forget — and would like Trump himself to be out of the picture.

....(snip)....

In a party where being an obvious criminal doesn't come with any political penalty, the only hope of scaring other Republicans straight is, quite literally, the threat of prison. Trump's flagrant disregard for the law has already empowered the beak-wetting urges of his fellow Republicans. If he ends up in the slammer, however, they might think twice before deciding that there's no downside to abusing their offices for cash or other similar ethical transgressions. ..............(more)

https://www.salon.com/2021/02/23/senate-republicans-too-weak-to-convict-trump-should-pray-new-york-prosecutors-lock-him-up/

[rsdsharp]

1. Pro tip. The Manhattan DA is not a federal prosecutor.