Why are people so timid about unprecedented legal actions against a former president?

[Kablooie]

What's unprecedented is an ex-president committing a massive amount of crimes.

What the DOJ is doing is not unprecedented at all. At least it is as long as they charge him with the crimes.

If they decide not to charge him because he used to be president, THAT will be unprecedented.

[J_William_Ryan]

1. Because it would indeed establish precedent.

One concern is that it would hobble a current president from taking action to protect national security by killing an American citizen abroad planning a terrorist attack against America, knowing that he might be prosecuted for the killing once he leaves office.

[intrepidity]

7. Well, that's the first I've heard this

Where did you get this idea?

[Demsrule86]

28. What are you talking about?It never happened before and is a very serious matter. Of course it would

Last edited Wed Sep 14, 2022, 09:54 AM - Edit history (1)

be unprecedented. I expect every Democratic president would be charged with something for revenge. That doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. But let's go into this thing with our eyes wide open.

[ecstatic]

9. But if we don't go after him due to fears of a democratic president

getting prosecuted in a hypothetical future witch hunt, what would distinguish us from refugs (who have continuously put their own careers above the nation)? Besides, with regard to future precedent, a phony gop led witch hunt would never work because not enough republicans would go along with it. They may not have the courage to stand up fully to maga, but they're not going to go along with a phony prosecution.

[qzwv8j]

10. Nothing TFG is being investigated for

could even remotely be interpreted as acting in the best interests of this country. I don’t really think this argument applies.

[dchill]

14. You're comparing apples to dog turds.

[aeromanKC]

15. Pretty sure legal action wasn't taken into consideration against Bush and Obama.

When they went after American citizens allied with al Qaeda.

[onetexan]

20. BS. The whole damn thing about charging an ex-president is unprecedented so the DOJ needs to follow

the law, bearing in mind he is now an ordinary citizen not covered by exec privilege, and subject to the law of the land like every other citizen. The national security nonsense mentioned sounds like BS so you're not making any sense there.

[The_Casual_Observer]

2. It's probably a matter of wanting to avoid global humiliation.

Having to admit that a dirty louse like that could have ever been elected in the first place. The power structure would rather just move on and pretend it didn't happen.

[qzwv8j]

11. This country is already a global laughing stock

Trump has also been internationally recognized as the lying, bullying, whiny narcissistic ass that he is. IMO to indict, try, and convict this man could not “harm” our global reputation any further, but could only enhance it.

[rubbersole]

3. I finally started to think it's coming.

The document garage sale and the 40 subpoenas added to the mountain of crimes this ragtag Russian asset mobster wannabe has committed are dominating the news. Keep uncovering until the midterms. "This will blow the roof off the house."

[qzwv8j]

12. Keep uncovering until we indict/convict

Regardless of timing/midterms

[dweller]

4. No one expects

the Fascist imposition … 😐



✌🏻

[BootinUp]

5. Why do we keep asking questions like... how can we be so dumb?

[relayerbob]

6. I can think of a bunch of reasons but two jump out...

1 - Not wanting to trigger a violent response
2 - Not wanting to fire up the right wing to win the mid-erms

[NJCher]

13. Yeah, well

How about my violent response if they don’t prosecute Cap’n Combover?

[uponit7771]

21. Yep

[relayerbob]

26. I seriously doubt

You are going to shoot up an FBI office, or random people people wearing a maga hat. Plus, your assumption is that he won’t be prosecuted. This takes time, and MUST be done 100% correctly.

[GoCubsGo]

24. 3. The guy in charge is meticulous and methodical.

Which many are confusing with timidity. He knows he needs his case to be airtight, and that take more time than many are willing to give him.

[relayerbob]

25. 100%

[kacekwl]

29. Let's arrest the lying thieving criminal and

fire up the left wing to vote and win the midterms. Enough excuses charge and arrest the lot of them.

[Septua]

31. The "pursuit of justice without fear or favor" is the rule.

There will be a negative response to an indictment or a pass, depending on which side one is on. If it's violent, the violence will be dealt with under the same rule.

[ecstatic]

8. Agreed. This topic makes me so mad.

I think it was Deadline White House where some guy was sort of lecturing about how extremely high the bar of evidence needed to be before going after trump. I'm so sick of this crap. They should read Berman's book. Looks like the high bar only applies to trump. Yeah, I get it, the clown pretended to be president for 4 years. Big deal. Anyone else would already be in prison right now.

[Septua]

32. I believe it still comes down to...

..what you know vs what you can prove. I'm guessing us non-lawyers don't fully comprehend the 'what you can prove' part. And we don't yet know what specific crime DOJ is shooting for if there is a specific. I further believe the amount of information to investigate is overwhelming (based on pundit comments) and will take a lot of time to sort through.

[Mr. Ected]

16. Fear that the fascists will convict Democratic officials in the future in their kangaroo courts

In my opinion, they'll do that anyway. Best we utilize our criminal justice system now to try and convict proven criminals than cower in fear of potential retribution.

[NanceGreggs]

17. "Justice must not only be done ...

... but must also be seen to be done”.

In the case of Trump, it must be "seen" by the citizenry that he is prosecuted on the basis of crimes committed, and not on the basis that he's a Republican who Democrats are simply "out to get" in pursuit of political revenge.

Yes, his crimes are unprecedented - just as unprecedented as the very idea of prosecuting an ex-president - which is why no stone can be left unturned, no T can be left uncrossed, no dots can be left unconnected. To say that what the DOJ is doing is "not unprecedented" is simply not the case.

It is a painstaking effort that requires patience. It's easy to say but there's already enough proof against him - and it's just as easy for his party and his supporters to say I'm still not convinced.

But with every fact that is revealed, every witness who comes forward to corroborate wrong-doing, every document uncovered that proves criminal activity and intent, the more the populace is seeing that this is not a political witch-hunt - it's about justice being done.

[gab13by13]

18. There is one reason why,

Domestic oligarchs own and manage the MSM and they push Magat talking points, push the right wing narratives.

Occam's Razor.

[kentuck]

19. It's all about Party...

...in my opinion.

It is not about fear of violence or further division of our people. It is all about protecting the Party.

[uponit7771]

23. Yep, after hearing Berman the DOJ is loaded with MAGA and republicans

[uponit7771]

22. Trump is the FBIs Whitey Bulger, he's worked with them in the past and gots the goods

[SKKY]

27. So, they had this thing on January 6, and it kinda got out of hand...

...I'm guessing they're actually doing what Garland said they needed to do, "We need to get this absolutely perfect." I think they already know what the end game is, they're just taking each step with extreme precision and caution.

[Septua]

30. Trump's unprecedented actions...

..necessitate unprecedented resolutions.

President Donald Trump's four years in the White House were marked by an unconventional, norm-busting approach to the country's institutions that will likely outlast the one-term leader, leaving a transformative and divisive legacy in Washington.

His brazen attempts to overturn the election that he lost, including encouraging his supporters to "fight like hell" and march to the Capitol, where they launched an insurrection just before he was set to leave office, capped a tumultuous tenure where critics say Trump repeatedly chipped away at the bedrock of American democracy.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-legacy-obliterated-norms-chipped-institutions-end/story?id=75275806