Why Trump must be prosecuted

The Boston Globe

Former presidents have not been charged with crimes for good reason— to avoid politicizing the justice system. But “the Justice Department must abandon two centuries of tradition by indicting and prosecuting Donald Trump for his conduct in office,” said The Boston Globe. Trump committed a host of potential crimes as president, culminating in fomenting “a full-on, violent assault on American democracy.” To allow his “extreme abuses of power” to stand unpunished would invite future presidents to descend even further into lawless authoritarianism. Special counsel Robert Mueller laid out a clear case for prosecuting Trump for at least 10 acts of obstruction of justice in trying to block the Russia investigation. After the 2020 election, Trump committed “clear election interference” by pressuring Georgia’s secretary of state to “find” 11,000 votes. Trump then publicly incited an insurrection, which led to a violent assault on the Capitol in which five people died and lawmakers fled for their lives. When Senate Republicans acquitted him in a second impeachment trial, several said the ex-president was guilty but should be judged by the criminal justice system. So be it. Trump crossed so many lines as president that if he is not prosecuted, then “there is no line” left.