From the Right

/

Politics

Trump Should Swear Off Lawfare

By Rich Lowry on

Jack Smith is on his way out, and we don't need another one.

While serving in Joe Biden's Justice Department, the special counsel concocted a novel legal case against Biden's foremost political opponent, and would have been happy to try Donald Trump in the midst of the presidential election campaign.

This was an outrageous abuse of the legal system, and it was just one of the acts of lawfare against Trump and people around him in recent years.

Now, with the Republican about to enter the White House again and Smith packing up, the question is whether Trump will engage in a campaign of counter-lawfare.

Let's put aside the hypocrisy here. The same people who supported, or didn't object to, the extended campaign of legal harassment against Donald Trump are convinced that it would threaten the very existence of our system of government if Trump used the same tools against his enemies.

It's true, nonetheless, that the most foreseeable early pitfall for the Trump presidency would be an effort to go after his adversaries.

Trump blows hot and cold on whether he's so inclined. He'll say that success is the best retribution, as he did on "Meet the Press" over the weekend, then also say the members of the Jan. 6 committee should go to jail. On Truth Social the other day, Trump posted a rant by ally Steve Bannon about how members of the Jan. 6 committee, prosecutors and judges should know that "we're coming for you."

On a podcast hosted by Bannon, Trump's nominee for FBI director Kash Patel talked last year of pursuing members of the media "who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections," although he later downplayed the remark.

Unless one of Trump's opponents has engaged in some real, no-doubt crime, any attempted prosecution along these lines would be a very bad idea: It would become an all-consuming political story, it wouldn't be popular, and it would fail as a legal matter.

Like it or not, the rules are different for the two sides. When Democrats engage in lawfare, the media falls in line -- Robert Mueller, the Russiagate special counsel, and Jack Smith were hailed as paladins of the law, inexorably closing in on their target. Whoever spearheads a Trump counteroffensive will instantly become Public Enemy Number One.

On top of this, the public in November didn't endorse a new phase of tribal warfare via the justice system. As Trump rightly observed on "Meet the Press," people fundamentally voted to control the border and grocery prices.

 

A new campaign of lawfare would be terrible for the country. Using the legal system for political ends erodes faith in it and unnecessarily inflames passions.

Besides, any abuse of the awesome powers of the Justice Department is, ipso facto, wrong.

An argument MAGA enthusiasts sometimes make is that "they won't stop doing it to us until we do it to them," or, in other words, political prosecutions can have a deterrent effect. It's just as likely, though, that another round of lawfare will make partisan justice an entrenched part of our landscape.

The mission should be to save the DOJ from its misuse, not to repurpose it for a series of new abuses for different partisan ends.

Trump is right when he touts success as the best form of vengeance. Whereas a lesser politician would have been ground down by all the investigations, indictments and trials, Trump used them to lend fuel to his primary candidacy and to become even more of a legend by defying his pursuers. He ended up defeating the cases against him legally and politically.

That, alone, is a significant achievement, and a powerful rebuke to those who weaponized the justice system. Now, Trump has the opportunity to deliver popular results that will make him stronger and his enemies weaker.

The axiom for Trump and his team should be "defeat them, don't become them." Trump did the former and would be well-served to avoid the latter.

========

(Rich Lowry is on Twitter @RichLowry)

(c) 2024 by King Features Syndicate


 

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

 

Related Channels

Armstrong Williams

Armstrong Williams

By Armstrong Williams
Austin Bay

Austin Bay

By Austin Bay
Ben Shapiro

Ben Shapiro

By Ben Shapiro
Betsy McCaughey

Betsy McCaughey

By Betsy McCaughey
Cal Thomas

Cal Thomas

By Cal Thomas
Christine Flowers

Christine Flowers

By Christine Flowers
David Harsanyi

David Harsanyi

By David Harsanyi
Debra Saunders

Debra Saunders

By Debra Saunders
Dennis Prager

Dennis Prager

By Dennis Prager
Erick Erickson

Erick Erickson

By Erick Erickson
John Stossel

John Stossel

By John Stossel
Josh Hammer

Josh Hammer

By Josh Hammer
Judge Andrew Napolitano

Judge Andrew Napolitano

By Judge Andrew P. Napolitano
Laura Hollis

Laura Hollis

By Laura Hollis
Michael Barone

Michael Barone

By Michael Barone
Michael Reagan

Michael Reagan

By Michael Reagan
Mona Charen

Mona Charen

By Mona Charen
Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

Oliver North and David L. Goetsch

By Oliver North and David L. Goetsch
R. Emmett Tyrrell

R. Emmett Tyrrell

By R. Emmett Tyrrell
Rachel Marsden

Rachel Marsden

By Rachel Marsden
Ruben Navarrett Jr

Ruben Navarrett Jr

By Ruben Navarrett Jr.
S.E. Cupp

S.E. Cupp

By S.E. Cupp
Salena Zito

Salena Zito

By Salena Zito
Star Parker

Star Parker

By Star Parker
Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore

By Stephen Moore
Terence P. Jeffrey

Terence P. Jeffrey

By Terence P. Jeffrey
Tim Graham

Tim Graham

By Tim Graham
Veronique de Rugy

Veronique de Rugy

By Veronique de Rugy
Victor Joecks

Victor Joecks

By Victor Joecks
Wayne Allyn Root

Wayne Allyn Root

By Wayne Allyn Root

Comics

Mike Beckom Jeff Koterba Al Goodwyn Clay Bennett Bill Bramhall Daryl Cagle