The 41-count Georgia indictment against former president Donald Trump and 18 other defendants has many bizarre components, including what appears to be an official government arbiter of truth. A number of the counts are about violations of §16-10-20 of the Georgia Code, related to “false statements and writings.” The code criminalizes using false statements and claims to state or other government institutions, but requires that the defendant “knowingly and willfully” falsify the document, or “know the same” to be false. Like Jack Smith’s most recent federal indictment, the prosecution is claiming that Trump knew that he lost the election, that there was no vote fraud, that it was wrong to ask legislators to appoint a new slate of electors, etc. Although some of the actions, such as submitting alternate slates of electors, could be illegal, it’s not clear how urging legislators to… legislate would be a criminal action.
The federal indictment included multiple examples of “Trump said something after an expert told him it was wrong,” as though anyone who disagrees with a supposedly authoritative announcement is a criminal! There is no Ministry of Truth.
(Of course, don’t hold your breath that Hillary Clinton or Stacey Abrams will be prosecuted for denying their electoral losses!)
Even some adamant anti-Trump figures in the legal community (like Ken White) have had to note the weakness of the Georgia indictment, as well as the extreme ease of pursuing RICO charges under the state law, which is much more friendly to prosecutors than its federal counterpoint.
In another blatant demonstration of a verdict in search of evidence, the indictment was uploaded before the grand jury had even formally approved the charges!
The fact that the ongoing flood of indictments against Trump are appearing at the same time that the corruption and illegality of President Biden and his son Hunter are being swept under the rug, should create a healthy sense of injustice among the population. David Weiss, the same prosecutor who offered Hunter Biden an extremely forgiving plea deal, a deal that was promptly tossed by the judge when she found out its contents, has himself been announced as the special prosecutor to continue the investigation — an astonishing development.
The prosecution of the leading opponent of the incumbent president is not unique to the United States:
President Lula da Silva of Brazil had been convicted and barred from politics in 2018 before retaking the presidency following intrepid reporting on the illegality of his persecution. President Jair Bolsonaro has been banned from running for election until 2030. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was ousted and has now been sentenced to a three-year period of incarceration and a five-year ban on seeking political office. The arrest of former president Rafael Correa of Ecuador — who offered asylum to Julian Assange — was ordered in 2018 but not carried out. In 2020, Correa, who lives in Belgium, was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison.
Elections should be decided by voters, not prosecutors.
