President Trump is on a roll – racking up huge wins. Of course, his biggest victory was on Election Day 2024 when he won an amazingly huge comeback victory — arguably the greatest comeback in American political history. It was particularly impressive because unlike most comebacks – which occur long after the loss – Trump won reelection to the presidency as he flew through unprecedented and intensifying political flak for the past four years.
The never-Trump coalition was maniacally desperate to stop Trump at all costs. They pulled out every tactic and dirty trick in the book. With the aid of a politically corrupt news media, the never-Trump coalition slandered him with the most absurd and fantastical narratives of insurrections, coup attempts, fascism, Nazism, Hitler comparisons and the fall of the American Republic. And they failed miserably – as they well deserved.
After years of being on the ropes with two impeachments, a record number of court cases – many motivated more by politics than the rule-of-law – and constant demonization, Trump has prevailed.
Trump’s reelection to the presidency was not only an amazing political victory, but it was also a legal victory. Cases that appeared to be politically motivated and were in process came to a crashing halt. Protected by the presidency from lawsuits and indictments, the pending cases – many on weak legal grounds – were relegated to the trash bin.
Two of the most prominent cases – the charges that Trump led an insurrection on January 6, 2021, and that he illegally took government documents from the White House to his Mar-a-Lago home – were dismissed (without prejudice) by special counsel Jack Smith. “Without prejudice” means that the cases can theoretically be restarted after Trump leaves office. Fat chance of that.
It appears that in the inappropriately charged RICO case in Georgia, Trump will be removed. That leaves the issues of the other defendants. But without Trump, that case loses a lot of justification.
As important as the reversals in the January 6 and Documents cases may be, it was an earlier event that started to bend the trend in Trump’s favor. Trump’s first big win prior to the election was the Supreme Court decision regarding presidential immunity. The mavens of the left-wing had spun the ruling as if it were some dramatic innovation or unique reversal of past practices. In fact, it was more of a clarification than plowing new ground.
The Constitution and the Supreme Court have long held that presidents are immune from prosecution while in office – and for acts performed as part of their presidential duties. You just cannot have a President being hamstrung by endless politically motivated prosecutors and civil lawsuits. That protection was mostly theory until Democrats broke tradition and used the courts as political weapons. Thus, the clarification by the High Court.
The Founders had provided a way for a President to be held accountable for serious violations of law while in office. It is called impeachment and subsequent removal from the office. It was the Founders’ intention that impeachment only be considered in the case of the most serious “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Unfortunately, there is no precise definition of “high crimes and misdemeanors.” Current events have shown that a President can be impeached for political reasons at the whim of a simple majority of the House – even if the impeachment is the result of the partisan votes of only one party.
A number of Trump cases that reached a verdict in the past year or so are not entirely settled. The campaign finance case brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is still awaiting sentencing – and is under appeal. Many legal experts believe the case has a good chance of being completely overturned on appeal.
The civil case brought by E. Jean Carroll has resulted in an extraordinarily high financial penalty. That is currently under appeal. Again, many legal experts believe the size of the judgment will be reduced significantly.
While the anti-Trump crowd suggest – or even erroneously say – that Trump was found guilty of rape … or sexual assault. In fact, the plaintiff’s effort to have rape as part of the charge was rejected by the court. Trump was not even convicted of sexual assault. He was found guilty of defamation … slander. It was this defamation case that the anti-Trumpers thought would be the political death blow to the presidential bid. In fact, it had no impact whatsoever. It did not even appear to impact Trump’s female vote.
There is an explanation for why none of these cases knocked Trump out of the race – and why they even appear to increase his support among voters. The only conceivable reason is that voters saw them as politically driven. Using the RICO law in George was a stretch. The campaign finance case in New York seemed rigged from the start. The special counsel was appointed by the Department of Justice only after Trump started to run for a second terms. In fact, all the cases were filed after he launched his campaign. All by politically ambitious Democrat prosecutors. And all in jurisdictions in which the jury pool was overwhelmingly composed of anti-Trump Democrats. It would seem that a majority of voters saw the cases collectively as lawfare.
A year or so ago, political pundits were predicting that Trump would be taken down by the court cases. That they would consume too much of his time and attention for him to campaign effectively. Some suggested that even one conviction would abruptly end his quest for reelection. There was some speculation that former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley continued her quest for delegates even though Trump had secured the nomination in the belief – or hope – that a conviction or two would force him out.
All those court cases – that once seemed like boulders descending on Trump — are now little more than dust at his feet. His opponents often said that the reason he ran again was to get out of the court cases. If that was part of his motivation, it worked. However, I personally believe he had two other motivations – to get the last laugh on his opponent (and he did that big time) and to finish the job he started for the benefit of the American people (and he will now get that opportunity).
So, there ‘tis.