Trump is far weaker than we think: legal expert

04 March 2024

Critics of former President Donald Trump were bitterly disappointment when the U.S. Supreme Court announced that they would hear Donald Trump's presidential immunity argument, but didn't schedule oral arguments until April 22. Those critics aren't so much angry with the High Court for hearing Trump's arguments but for waiting so long; by delaying special counsel Jack Smith's case, the justices have greatly reduced the possibility of the trial starting before the 2024 presidential election.

Some of Trump's critics are complaining that he dodges accountability time again and again. But former federal prosecutor Dennis Aftergut, in an article published the conservative website The Bulwark on March 4, lays out some reasons why, in his view, the 2024 GOP presidential frontrunner is far from invincible.

"There's every reason to resist despair's siren song and not fall for the line you sometimes hear that Trump 'gets away with everything,'" Aftergut argues. "That's exactly what he wants us to believe. As historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat noted last fall, wannabe dictators try to project an image of invulnerability and omnipotence, when it's far from true….. Step back and look at the big picture of legal proceedings."

Aftergut continues, "First, on the civil fraud side, New York Attorney General Letitia James has held Trump to account with a $454 million judgment…. Second, there's the courageous E. Jean Carroll's case in which Trump owes $83 million. In that case, too, he is trying to escape his bond requirement on appeal…. Third, and most importantly, Trump's day of reckoning before a jury in Alvin Bragg's 2016 election interference case begins on March 25. It's strong, important, and Trump can't stop it."

Some polls released in early March show Trump with small leads over President Joe Biden in a hypothetical matchup, including 4 percent in a CBS News poll and 2 percent in a Wall Street Journal poll. But Aftergut emphasizes that Trump is going into the general election with major vulnerabilities.

"Elections are where politicians' accountability really happens," Aftergut writes. "Polls keep overestimating Trump's actual performance in this year's Republican primaries. And all the hand-wringing before elections in 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2023 turned out to be wasted when people were active in defending our right to control our government and our right to organize and vote."

The former federal prosecutor adds, "In contested elections, Trump and his candidates have lost time after time. In other words, Trump and his movement are not inevitable. And it will be a victory for our constitutional republic if we each do our own small part in preserving it."

Dennis Aftergut's full Bulwark article is available at this link.

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