The first indictment of Donald Trump has landed. Certainly there are more to
come. In the meanwhile, the indictment by the New York City grand jury and prosecutor has already created feverish media reactions and the expected bombast from the former U.S. president. What to make of it all? These thoughts come to mind.
The Media
In our digital age, the mainstream (traditional) media are also all about attracting eyeballs, most especially our television news programs. Thus, the coverage to this point–before the indictment charges are even revealed–has been, well, hysterical. It’s odd, isn’t it? Trump refers to them as the “Fake News” media, and yet he is able to play them to his advantage like a fiddle. They cannot get enough of him, his antics and his predicaments. He is addicted to their attention, and they are happy to provide it.
Our mainstream media figures appear so gaga about covering this “UNPRECEDENTED” moment in history–the criminal indictment of a former president–that they seem to have forgotten that their professional duty has long been to dispassionately describe the first draft of history. It is not to be a part of that draft.
While their anchors breathe heavily and intone forebodingly about the timing of Trump’s flight from Florida to New York City for his arraignment, reporters “on the ground” at the New York County Courthouse in lower Manhattan describe in awesome terms the “massive” enforcement preparations to protect against the threatening protests to come at the time of Trump’s appearance in court, if not also to warn of the sheer chaos of the coming human drama outdoors at the location. Without irony, reporters and anchors report on the coming circus at the courthouse apparently without realizing that they are among its most energetic instigators.
The mainstream media cite Trump’s incriminating remarks on his social media platform against the local prosecutor and even the judge sitting on the case, comparing them to his behavior leading up to the January 6 insurrection and excitedly portending the potential violence against our legal institutions that may result.
Meanwhile, some of the shows’ hosts laugh and condescend at the same events as they play out, like giddy schoolyard children enjoying watching the bully being pulled from the playground by his ear.
And all of this before the indictment is even unsealed to reveal in fact what the former president is being charged with. Our professional media–not to include Fox and other sources of lies and conspiracy reporting–should be ashamed of themselves.
The Lawyers
As even casual observers of these news/analysis shows know, there is no shortage of lawyers to comment on this slowly unfolding legal process, especially former prosecutors. Most are careful not to explicitly get ahead of the known facts, even as the shows’ anchors urge them to predict outcomes. The lawyers are playing closer to their professional ethics than are the reporters and anchors to theirs (a fact that makes the stomach of this former journalist ache!).
The lawyers are asked to explain the seriousness of the case against Trump, and even the timing of the indictment. Isn’t paying a porn star to keep quiet about a sexual liaison with the former president rather trivial when compared to potential coming indictments about overturning a legitimate national election and fomenting a violent insurrection? Shouldn’t these more weighty matters have been brought against Trump first, especially so as not to offer his supporters evidence that the Law is simply out to “get him” in any way possible and to interfere with his political campaign for a second term in the White House? Will this indictment have any effect on the decisions of the prosecutors in the other Trump investigations?
Many of these questions are legally naïve. Potential criminal acts subjected to grand jury deliberations are never “trivial.” Neither are any acts defined as crimes by our laws. Nor are their potential consequences. Just ask the countless number of people in the U.S. serving prison sentences for mere possession of marijuana. In many white-collar crime cases over the years, the “triviality” argument has often come from the defense in the guise of either the “seriousness” or “evil” arguments, or both. That is, these defendants and their lawyers commonly argue that what they are accused of is neither serious nor evil. No real harm was done, there was no intent to commit a crime, and so on.
Thoughtful journalists should not be riding with this defense position on any matter, let alone the indictment of a former president that ultimately has to do with his efforts to “steal” the 2016 election by shielding himself from the stigmatizing evidence of his sexual deviancy with a porn actor.
And, no, prosecutors do not coordinate in timing their separate indictments. Coordination was the work of “Individual One” in the crimes that sent his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to the federal penitentiary.
The People
Two things will tamp down the enthusiasm and size of the “crowd” that will protest Trump’s indictment at his arraignment tomorrow (April 4). One is that the general enthusiasm for Trump within the Republican Party is on the wane. Thoughtful members of the GOP know that he is bad for the Party and worse for its candidates’ electability, as the last few elections around the country have proven.
Second, yes, there is the indefatigable Trump base of supporters, those who live in fear and dark imaginations and who cannot distinguish facts from fantasy. But I suspect some facts have not eluded even these cult-like members wearing hoods without eyeholes. Foremost among them is that their fellow travelers who have committed violence on behalf of their leader end up in prison in high numbers. Since January 6 they–not the former president and his associates–have been the low-hanging fruit for prosecutors and their convictions and incarcerations have come easily.  American law has always weighed most heavily on the disconnected and the deprived.
I suspect that most in the Trump base can still–if barely–calculate their own self-interest well enough to try to stay out of prison for the boss. For the relatively few mentally imbalanced others, they may as well burn their material wealth in their fireplaces before heading out to abandon their remaining liberties for their Dear Leader.
Right on the mark! And the nuances of your wording accentuates how absurd reactions from Trump supporters and critics to this upcoming event have been. I look forward to your commentary on the aftermath to this afternoon. Thanks for staying on top of this very important matter.
As have many in the media, NPR has figured out how effectively they have been manipulated by Trump and his cronies. Yesterday I heard an interview with an NPR news executive who stated that their new policies for coverage that will deter some of that manipulation. Of course, they are not worried about optics. Thanks for your clear and well-reasoned thinking.