Trump will attack his indictment on three basic points. Let me rebut them

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By Robert Reich

1. It sets a dangerous precedent

Wrong. In order for the justice system to work, there must be trust that the system will not play favorites or ignore the wrongdoing of the powerful.

Donald Trump has done everything possible over the last seven years to destroy that trust for his own political gain.

America never quite recovered from Gerald Ford’s decision to pardon Richard Nixon for all crimes he might have committed.

It is true that no former president has ever been indicted, but no former president has done what Donald Trump has done – repeatedly defied laws and disregarded the US constitution.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/01/donald-trump-indictment-criticism-robert-reich
 
2. The indictment plays into Trump’s claims that he’s the victim of a witch-hunt, and

Irrelevant. Undoubtedly some Trump supporters will be upset by this. The indictment will confirm for them that Trump is not only being prosecuted but also being persecuted.

But Trump has used every move against him so far – whether by the FBI, the justice department, Congress, or even opponents in the Republican party – to claim he’s a victim of a witch-hunt. This indictment is no different.
 
3. This is the weakest of the cases now being prepared against Trump

Yes, but so what? To be sure, paying hush money to cover up something embarrassing during a presidential campaign is not nearly on the same level as asking Georgia’s secretary of state to “come up” with the exact number of votes needed to reverse the outcome of Georgia’s presidential election, or fomenting an attack on the US Capitol.

And it may be true that an allegation like this is usually treated as a misdemeanor rather than a felony.

None of this alters the fact that a grand jury had enough evidence in this case to decide that Trump broke the law. That’s the critical point.
 
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