Dear Editor,
The horse is out of the barn. The Justice Department has charged former president Donald Trump with 37 separate charges–31 of which relate to a violation of the Espionage Act.
Let’s accept as a given that Trump could have responded differently to the demand for return of the documents and this mess could possibly have been avoided. I say possibly because it is clear that this is principally a political prosecution. Two things can be true at the same time. Trump’s retaining the documents is a violation of the law, and the Justice Department’s prosecution is principally motivated by a desire to destroy him politically.
The risk that exists is that the very next time Republicans are in control of the White House a criminal charge will be brought against the outgoing Democratic president. Tit for tat and we devolve into a Banana Republic.
A second danger is the confirmation that there are two separate and distinct forms of justice. One for those who are in control of the reins of power and one for those who are the opposition. A fair argument can be made that the existence of classified documents in Joe Biden’s garage, next to his classic Corvette, are a violation of the law. And Biden didn’t seem very concerned when he said “My Corvette’s in a locked garage, OK?” Even more egregious is the case of Hillary Clinton. She had extensive amount of classified material on her computer which she wiped with “Bleach Bit” and she destroyed hard drives and cell phones with a hammer to avoid the authorities from discovering what was on the computer and/or cell phones. That has all the indicia of “obstruction of justice” but nothing was done and nothing will be done.
The disparate treatment fuels the very real belief that the Justice Department as well as the FBI are corrupt. Events of the past six years shows that such a belief is undeniable.
This entire mess could have been handled very differently but the visceral hatred for Trump prevented any form of common sense by the government. Similarly Trump’s recalcitrance to be reasonable, fueled by his being under unjust attack for six years, has lent credence to the unfair actions of the Justice Department as well as the FBI.
Now we just must wait and see how this all plays out. I am fearful that it will continue to be a war between the two political parties, and our nation will continue to be divided with little chance of reconciliation.
— John Lengemann
Imlay City
