Magats_Love_NHB
Let It Burn!
The Justice Department is not alone in this. These struggles are best understood as part of an conversation in the wake of the 2024 election among Americans committed to liberal democracy. On the one hand, they have risen to defend American institutions. On the other, this defense risks eliding the many ways those institutions stumbled. And that, in turn, risks further eating away at public trust, if people perceive a widening gap between high-minded claims of institutional integrity and their personal experiences of government’s limitations.
Early in the Jan. 6 investigation, Mr. Garland announced the department’s commitment to the principle that “there cannot be different rules for the powerful and the powerless.” How well does that claim hold up today, with Mr. Trump having slipped free of the charges against him precisely because of his wealth and power?
Over the next four years, those who believe in the rule of law will have to work to protect it from the predations vowed by Mr. Trump, just as they did during his first administration. This time around, they also need to think more seriously about how to build a system of equal justice that’s worthy of support on its own merits, rather than only as a contrast to what Mr. Trump has to offer.
After all, for the average person not steeped in Justice Department traditions, the first Trump administration’s model of law enforcement as a system of patronage — with preferential treatment apparently given to allies of the president — might seem appealing when compared with a plodding, opaque, rule-bound bureaucracy that nevertheless reliably manages to advantage those in power.
At least under Mr. Trump, you might hope to secure the good graces of the “chief law enforcement officer” long enough to secure a benefit for yourself. As one Jan. 6 defendant recently called out in court before being taken into custody following his sentencing: “Trump’s going to pardon me, anyways.”
www.nytimes.com
Early in the Jan. 6 investigation, Mr. Garland announced the department’s commitment to the principle that “there cannot be different rules for the powerful and the powerless.” How well does that claim hold up today, with Mr. Trump having slipped free of the charges against him precisely because of his wealth and power?
Over the next four years, those who believe in the rule of law will have to work to protect it from the predations vowed by Mr. Trump, just as they did during his first administration. This time around, they also need to think more seriously about how to build a system of equal justice that’s worthy of support on its own merits, rather than only as a contrast to what Mr. Trump has to offer.
After all, for the average person not steeped in Justice Department traditions, the first Trump administration’s model of law enforcement as a system of patronage — with preferential treatment apparently given to allies of the president — might seem appealing when compared with a plodding, opaque, rule-bound bureaucracy that nevertheless reliably manages to advantage those in power.
At least under Mr. Trump, you might hope to secure the good graces of the “chief law enforcement officer” long enough to secure a benefit for yourself. As one Jan. 6 defendant recently called out in court before being taken into custody following his sentencing: “Trump’s going to pardon me, anyways.”
Opinion | Will Americans Care if Trump Brings a Wrecking Ball to the Rule of Law?
Over the next four years, the rule of law will face a profound test.
