America sinking deeper into uncharted waters
We have previously in this space contended that America had plunged into uncharted waters following the historic first indictment of a former president, Mr Donald J Trump, on 40 criminal counts, for alleged mishandling of classified documents and efforts to obstruct an ensuing probe after leaving office.
Since then, the world’s most powerful nation has sunk even deeper into those uncharted waters, as Mr Trump was slapped with a total of 91 criminal counts in four jurisdictions — Washington, DC; Atlanta, Georgia; Florida; and New York.
The other indictments are in relation to his alleged efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 presidential elections, leading to the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol by Trump supporters; the Stormy Daniel case in which he is said to have paid off a porn star to secure her silence about an affair; and orchestrating a “criminal enterprise” to subvert his 2020 election loss in the state of Georgia.
As if those charges were not more than enough, Mr Trump lost a case to Ms E Jean Carroll, who accused him of sexually assaulting her and then defaming her, twice; and the ex-president is awaiting a judge’s ruling in New York, where the attorney general has successfully accused him of fraudulent business practices.
What has made all of that more complex is that Mr Trump is on the cusp of becoming the Republican presidential nominee for the next election after crushing all other contestants in all three primaries and caucuses held so far.
This offers the possibility that a presidential candidate could win but face prison time. That reality has pushed Mr Trump to seek to delay the trial in all of his criminal cases, with critics saying if he succeeds he could use presidential powers to get rid of his legal woes.
In a companion effort, he brought court action to defeat the indictment for trying to remain in office illegally, by arguing that he was immune from being prosecuted for any crimes he committed while trying to stay in office after losing the 2020 election.
On Tuesday, he was dealt a severe blow when a three-member panel of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out his suit, unanimously declaring: “We cannot accept former President Trump’s claim that a president has unbounded authority to commit crimes that would neutralise the most fundamental check on executive power — the recognition and implementation of election results… We cannot accept that the office of the presidency places its former occupants above the law for all time thereafter.”
But it does not stop there, because additional efforts by his opponents to have courts bar him from appearing on the ballot in a handful of states have created a legal quagmire that has enmeshed the US Supreme Court, which might now have to decide on both the immunity question, if he appeals, and the removal from the state ballots.
Jamaicans and the rest of the world are watching with great interest — we could say anxiety — to see how America emerges from this challenging chapter in its history. All who cherish democracy are hoping that the US will solve this problem and become the better for it.
We have a vested interest in the health of America, our largest trading partner, our largest source market for tourism, a second home to Jamaicans, and the nation once regarded as the moral arbiter of the world.