Op-ed by Summer Lane | Photo: Alamy
The 2024 election year is one for the books. History will reflect on this unprecedented moment in the timeline of the United States and its political trajectory as the nation faces a crossroads in November.
The tumultuous prosecutorial lawfare waged against the Republican nominee, President Donald Trump, will likely not be remembered fondly, even as legal experts across the board have torched its credibility in real-time.
Lawyer and National Review columnist Andy McCarthy argued recently that Trump should be “acquitted,” and razed the “plethora of Constitutional infirmities in the prosecution,” ultimately reiterating that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg “can’t prove his case.”
The entire “hush money” case in Manhattan boils down to an alleged accounting error that took place while President Trump was the sitting President of the United States, therefore making the 34 felony charges even more ridiculous.
Trump attorney and spokeswoman Alina Habba explained this week, “Don’t forget what this is: this is about how they booked something at Trump Tower in the accounting department, whether they should have put ‘legal expense.’ That’s it! And you want to show me that Donald Trump, who was sitting in the White House, had any idea about that OR that it was done incorrectly? Both things, I haven’t seen.”
The lawfare is bad enough, but the blatant disrespect shown for someone who has served as the President of the United States in the courtroom has been egregious.
Andrew Giuliani, the former special assistant to President Trump during his administration, has been reporting on the trial from inside the courtroom. He breaks down witness testimony and notes the behavior and comments of presiding Judge Juan Merchan.
Giuliani wrote on X, “Merchan has entered the courtroom and is seated. Again, after Todd Blanche introduces his client as ‘President Trump’, Merchan says, ‘Good Morning Mr. Trump.’”
It seems obvious that Merchan has made a conscious effort to refuse to acknowledge the president’s former executive status in small gestures like these, providing a glimpse into an unpleasant courtroom environment that has been dragging on for weeks.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., highlighted this depressing fact when he joined President Trump in NYC on Tuesday, noting the cold and unhappy temperature of the court.
He told the press, “First of all, I’m disappointed in the courtroom. I’m hearing ‘Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump.’ He is former President Trump. Give him some respect! I mean, that’s what that place is in there – it’s no respect.”
Tuberville also said that he believed the point of the trial was to force a feeling of “mental anguish” upon President Trump. Between the judge’s lack of respect and the sheer salaciousness of some witnesses’ testimony, his argument is hard to ignore.
President Trump has also mentioned that the courtroom has been freezing cold, calling it an “ice box” this week and lamenting the amount of time and money that he has had to spend fighting the election-year charges. “I’m willing to do it because ultimately, we have to fight for the Constitution,” he told reporters this week.
The media circus revolving around Alvin Bragg’s case in Manhattan is something that Americans should be ashamed of. It is a gross misuse of the justice system, and the fact that the trial was brought forward just a few months away from the general election is telling.
“People are thinking that Soros backed D.A., Alvin Bragg, who never wanted to bring the Witch Hunt against me in the first place, is going to drop this ridiculous and very unpatriotic ‘CASE’ in order to save lots of money, and also the self respect of his once revered Office,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday.
He called the trial “ELECTION INTERFERENCE,” and amid the faltering testimony of witnesses like Michael Cohen, the district attorney, and Judge Merchan should do themselves a favor and drop the case.
