Hardly anyone wants to see a Biden-Trump re-run. In an embrace of mutual support and loathing, they survive due to their dominance of their own political bases and how much their base voters detest the other. If one falls, so would the other.
But it should not be this way. Donald Trump could have been knocked out of the race a long time ago, if not for the political incompetence, venality and ignorance of Merrick Garland, Alvin Bragg and Aileen Cannon. If these three stooges of jurisprudence had acted competently and ethically, Trump would be out and Biden with him.
Merrick Garland: Politically Incompetent
When Garland was named attorney general, it looked like a smart pick. Clearly one of his main priorities would be to investigate Trump. And who better? Garland is a highly experienced, bland sort. He was vetted during his Supreme Court appointment. He was a man with no real skeletons in his closet and, most importantly, not likely to be scheming for Biden’s job. He was the anti-Andrew Cuomo.
Loathed by Democrats, impetuous, contemptuous of rules of procedure and prone to self-sabotage, Trump should have been an easy target. But it presented Garland with a difficult political dilemma. Investigating a former president by the administration of the man who beat him would always be open to charges of Nixon-style use of federal law enforcement for political gain.
Garland dithered in his investigation, allowing the calendar to close in on him. Like it or not, prosecuting politicians must include political calculations and no more so that prosecuting a former president. An “I’m above politics” attitude and conduct is farcical.
But Garland’s colossal blunder was not naming a special prosecutor right on the heels of the July portion of the January 6th Committee hearings. At that point there was a trove of incendiary information — even if it was stage-managed by the Democrats. Instead, Garland dithered. Again. He waited for Trump’s formal presidential announcement to act.
What Garland assumed was a proper process looked very different to Republicans. To them, it looked like the Department of Justice pursuing Trump because he was running against Biden — rather than due to possible criminal acts exposed by Congress, which was more likely the case with a quick appointment. Not only were the optics awful, the delay of four months has dominoed everything backward.
A March 4 trial date could be a Dec. 4 trial date. Instead of a verdict after the GOP primaries, there could be one before New Hampshire. Of course, Trump could be acquitted. As bad as an acquittal in 2023 would be, an acquittal in mid to late 2024 would be worse. Imagine knocking out a major party presidential candidate illegitimately. So much for defending democracy.
Alvin Bragg Interferes
Trump’s polling is a story of before the Bragg indictment and after. Before the indictment, Trump was in real trouble. On the eve of the indictment, Trump was polling under 50 percent and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis within 16 points and closing. In the next 60 days, Trump moved over 50 percent and stretched his lead above 30 points and has not fallen since. Considered a weak indictment across the political spectrum, Bragg conferred on Trump much-coveted victim status with Republicans rallying around him.
Bragg’s actions were gratuitous, self-serving and a waste of taxpayer resources. The indictment sure helped Bragg, giving him a major boost in New York politics and plenty of airtime and adulation on the Trump-hating media. De facto conceding the indictment was more political stunt that anything, Bragg is pursuing an indict-first, try last strategy, deferring his case to every other charge — even though both the federal and Fulton County charges were levied well after his.
And spare us all the “nobody is above the law” claptrap. Yes, nobody is above the law, but prosecutors across the country make decisions every day about how to apply their scarce resources and what to make a priority. Manhattan is beset with crime, with 398 homicides and more than 20,000 felony assaults in 2022. Have all those crimes been solved? Prosecuted? Have those dangerous criminals been removed? But Bragg has the time and resources to chase a six-year-old accounting fraud.
What makes Bragg’s conduct even more egregious is that multiple criminal investigations were underway and all it would have taken was a couple of phone calls to know that Trump was headed for three criminal trials anyway. Indicting Trump on some New York accounting charge would be like delaying Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial so that Beverly Hills could try him on a fistful of overdue parking tickets.
If Trump manages to win in 2024, it will be in no small way due to Bragg’s venal behavior.
Judge Cannon: Befuddled, Lazy or Corrupt — Hard to Say
The incompetence of Garland and grasping ambition of Bragg would not matter if Cannon would get her act together and just try the classified documents case.
Trump is recorded admitting he showed highly classified material as some kind of party favor. There is evidence he hid documents once he was told to return them and destroyed records — that’s obstruction of justice. Trump himself has offered little public defense, save his claim that it’s his stuff and he can do what he likes. In other words, more the whining of a three-year-old than a reasoned legal defense.
What would serve the country and even the Republican Party would be a trial as soon as possible and subsequent adjudication of the matter. Resolving this case early would allow voters to know if Trump is a felon. This case is significantly less complicated than the Jan. 6 indictments or the Fulton County case — which could last months. Perhaps Trump has some ace up his sleeve that would mean an acquittal. More likely, he will be convicted.
A conviction on exposing national security secrets and covering it up would be something most Americans can easily grasp. Outside of the ultra-MAGAs, Trump would be finished, and the GOP could get a fresh start. Rid of the legal baggage of Trump, the Republican nominee would be in a very strong position to win. Alternately, if Trump could somehow get an acquittal, he would be home-free for 2024.
But Cannon seems totally oblivious. She scheduled her trial for the end of May — arguably the worst possible time for Republicans. Just the right time to allow Trump to gain the GOP nomination yet enter the general election a potential convict. She also allowed enough time for the Jan. 6 case to slot in before her.
Meanwhile, Cannon has taken weeks to issue orders and does not seem to grasp the relevant law. As a result, she may push the trial further back and allow the Fulton County trial to sneak in. Perhaps she is working her way through “National Security for Dummies."
Confused, incompetent or in the tank for Trump — hard to say. But Cannon muffed an opportunity to settle matters for the American people. Given her behavior, she probably doesn’t even understand this fact.
Everyone loves a good conspiracy theory — it seems to be what makes life worth living for Robert Kennedy, Jr. But plenty of problems in our government and judicial system can be marked down to incompetence and self-serving egotism.
Keith Naughton, Ph.D., is co-founder of Silent Majority Strategies, a public and regulatory affairs consulting firm. Naughton is a former Pennsylvania political campaign consultant. Follow him on Twitter @KNaughton711.
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