BY STEVE FLOWERS
OPINION —
In early April, I wrote that “Democrats give Trump a lifeline.” It was at that time that a Democratic district attorney in an overwhelmingly Democratic New York venue had indicted Trump in a political ploy to disarm in some way, politically.
There is an old saying that you can indict a potato or a ham sandwich. The legal threshold for getting a grand jury to offer a writ of indictment only requires that there is a scintilla of evidence that there may be a crime or misdemeanor. Therefore, a prosecutor can orchestrate an indictment.
It looks like the Democrats plan is to replay the 2020 election in the courts, which is destroying Americans’ trust in their judicial system. They are making the courts a theatrical comedy political show. It used to be off limits to use the courts to indict a person for political reasons. Make no mistake about it, all of these trumped up indictments are just that, orchestrated political ploys.
The Democrats have politically used the judicial system to indict Donald Trump — unbelievably four times in four different Democratic venues with Democratic judges and Democratic juries. The last two plays are in slam dunk Democratic clubhouses. The third indictment is in Washington D.C., which is 96% Democratic. The fourth is in Fulton County, Atlanta, Georgia, which is 80% Democratic.
There will never be a conviction upheld by a superior unbiased appeals court. It would also take six years of appeals to get resolved and by that time Trump and Biden might not be here and if they are here, may not know they are here. The 2024 race will long be over and forgotten. These political indictments are designed and orchestrated to derail Trump in 2024.
Make no mistake about it, these charades are politically motivated but not for the reason you think. Most would assume that the Democrats wanted to bloody Trump in order to beat him in the general election next November against Biden. Not so, they want him to be the Republican nominee because he will be easy to beat, and they know that. This courtroom ploy is playing out with the Republican base with such anger and outrage that it is making Trump a martyr.
Indeed, as late as March, polls showed that Trump could not be elected president under any circumstances. He was probably not going to be the Republican nominee. He had dropped to 25% among Republicans with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at 40% without DeSantis even being in the race.
After every indictment the sensationalism was met with glee by the liberal media. However, it was met by more glee by one, Donald Trump. It not only gave him a political lifeline, it essentially assured him the Republican nomination. The latest polls reveal Trump has a demanding lead in the GOP horserace. He is sitting on 54% vote to DeSantis’s 15% and the rest of the dwarfs are at 5% or less.
Trump will more than likely carry Alabama, overwhelmingly in our March 5 GOP Primary. All six of our current Republican Congressmen have endorsed him as well as our Senior Sen. Tommy Tuberville who, by the way, is probably Trump’s closest and most loyal ally in the U.S. Senate. Trump was met by enthusiastic, energetic enthusiasm when he spoke to a record breaking crowd of Alabama Republicans at their summer dinner in Montgomery on Aug. 4.
Folks, the Democratic plan to make Donald Trump the Republican nominee has been successful. They have used Democratic courts to orchestrate his nomination. However, they may have overplayed their hand. There is such a thing as “piling on” to use a football analogy. Every time one of these indictments comes down, it makes it look more and more frivolous and political. It has become viewed by Republicans as over the top and hitting below the waist politics. They may be making some Independent voters reconsider their distaste for Trump. In addition, every time one of these ploys comes down, Trump raises tons of money. The Democrats may have succeeded in making Trump the nominee they wanted. However, they may have gone too far. They may elect him president.
During Trump’s visit to Montgomery when he spoke, the GOP faithful following the third indictment out of Washington D.C., you could tell he was delighted with the latest pile on. He gleefully told the audience, “one more indictment and they will make me president.” He may be right.
Then the fourth indictment came down, and his polls and fundraising took off again. He would like nothing better than to hold a rally outside each courtroom next year. If political prosecution is the Democrats gameplan, they may have overplayed their hand. We will see.
See you next week.
Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Flowers may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.