Analyst rips pro-Trump 'partisans' for 'condemning indictments' they haven’t even seen

19 July 2023

On Tuesday, July 18, MSNBC and CNN were dominated by the news that former President Donald Trump had received a target letter from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in connection with special counsel Jack Smith's investigation of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. A target letter is official correspondence from prosecutors letting people know that they are under investigation.

Richard Convertino, a former federal prosecutor, believes the letter is a sure sign that DOJ is getting ready to indict Trump again. Convertino told CBS News, "Once a person is the target of a federal grand jury investigation, they will be indicted. I can think of, in 20 years as a federal prosecutor, I can think of no cases where a target was not ultimately indicted."

This is the third target letter Trump has received. The last two — one from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, the next from DOJ — were followed by indictments.

Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results are also being investigated by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for the State of Georgia. If the post-2020 election probes lead to indictments, Trump will be facing four criminal indictments altogether.

MAGA Republicans have been quick to attack the most recent target letter that federal DOJ prosecutors sent Trump. But "Rachel Maddow Show" producer Steve Benen, in a MaddowBlog opinion column published by MSNBC on July 19, slams them for "condemning" a letter they haven't even seen.

Benen explains, "There's no real point in quoting the dozens of GOP voices who spoke out, most of whom expressed their outrage in similar ways…. But let's not overlook the relevant detail: None of the Republicans defending the former president have seen the target letter, the possible indictment, or any of the underlying evidence. They don't even know what crimes Trump might be charged with."

The "Maddow Show" producer emphasizes that when it comes to Trump, Republicans can't be bothered to look at the evidence — they reflexively defend him, whether it's the Mueller Report or the DOJ's 37-count indictment in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.

"Let's make this plain: When Republicans repeatedly condemn indictments they haven't seen, they give away the game," Benen argues. "The GOP doesn't care about the charges or their merits. What the party does care about is putting Trump above legal accountability."

Benen adds, "The special counsel's likely indictment — assuming it will soon exist — might be unpersuasive, or it might be devastating. It might be thin, or it might be based on overwhelming evidence. Either way, the former president's partisans will ignore it.

Steve Benen's full MSNBC column is available at this link.

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