It was inevitable that Donald Trump would complain vociferously in the wake of his latest criminal indictment, and the former president has done exactly what was expected of him. In recent days, we’ve seen the Republican lash out wildly at prosecutors, potential witnesses, the judge overseeing the case, and even the city where the trial is scheduled to be held.
But Trump’s overarching complaint is that the case exists at all. Yesterday afternoon, for example, he published a rather long tirade to his social media platform, and while it originally appeared in all capital letters, I’m quoting it in its entirety in standard capitalization to make it easier to read:
“How can my corrupt political opponent put me on trial(s) during a campaign that I am winning (by a lot!), but forcing me to spend time and money away from the ‘campaign trail’ in order to fight bogus accusations & charges? Is this going to be the future of elections in America? Can a president order his Department of Justice to indict an opponent just prior to an election? Why didn’t they do this 2.5 years ago? Why now? Never happened before in the USA. This is all about election interference!”
It’s unrealistic to try to highlight every error of fact and judgment in the former president’s rant, though to quickly review some of the basics, there’s literally no evidence of President Joe Biden being corrupt; Biden isn’t responsible for Trump’s prosecution; the charges weren’t filed earlier because they weren’t ready until now; the “election interference” claims don’t make any sense at all; and the charges are unprecedented because the United States has never before had an unpardoned former president credibly accused of multiple felonies.
But that’s not the interesting part.
Rather, what stood out for me was his apparent concerns about the implications of his indictments. “Is this going to be the future of elections in America?” the former president asked. “Can a president order his Department of Justice to indict an opponent just prior to an election?”
Taken at face value, it’s difficult not to wonder how traumatized Trump would be if he familiarized himself with his own record.
Obviously, it’s of utmost importance for the public to understand that there’s literally zero evidence to suggest Biden ordered federal prosecutors to indict one of his GOP rivals 15 months before Election Day 2024. That said, there’s plenty of evidence to suggest Trump, while in office, did exactly what he’s so concerned about.
As we discussed a couple of months ago, the former Republican president, while in office, spent much of his White House tenure trying to turn Justice Department prosecutors into his own personal attack dogs. The New York Times reported last year that Trump and his team “tried to turn the nation’s law enforcement apparatus into an instrument of political power” to carry out the Republican’s wishes. A Washington Post analysis published soon after highlighted the many instances in which Trump not only leaned on the Justice Department to follow his whims, but also Trump’s efforts to push federal law enforcement to validate the Big Lie in the wake of his election defeat.
The Republican’s weaponization efforts reached a truly amazing pinnacle less than a month before Election Day 2020, when Trump publicly called on federal prosecutors to go after Biden — at the time, the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee who was leading the Republican incumbent in the polls — accusing him of undefined crimes. The then-president added that his future successor shouldn’t be “allowed” to run against him.
On Oct. 7, 2020, with early voting underway across much of the country, Politico published an especially memorable headline: “‘Where are all of the arrests?’: Trump demands Barr lock up his foes.” The next day, the Republican incumbent spoke to Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo and called on the Justice Department to “indict” his perceived Democratic foes — including Biden. In other words, we’re left with a head-spinning dynamic: The politician who’s now asking, “Can a president order his Department of Justice to indict an opponent just prior to an election?” is the same politician who, as president, pressured his Justice Department to indict his opponent just prior to an election. Does Trump not remember doing the exact thing he’s now accusing Biden of doing? Or is he simply counting on the public to have forgotten his own brazen efforts to weaponize federal law enforcement? “Is this going to be the future of elections in America?” If Trump has his way, yes, it will be.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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