Idaho governor, other GOP leaders make excuses for Donald Trump | Opinion
Conviction
Donald Trump has been found guilty of committing 34 felonies. The 12-member jury unanimously found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Idaho Gov. Brad Little and most GOP elected officials make excuses for Trump. They don’t make up these excuses; they get them from the Republican National Committee. They are required to repeat them to prove they support their party over the country. This will continue going forward, as more guilty verdicts come in for obstruction of justice, sending fake electors to Congress, and sedition on Jan. 6. I hope Trump gets a prison sentence, but I don’t think Trump will ever actually go to prison. Trump is too rich and too selfish to follow a court order. I think Trump will leave the country, get in his private jet and leave America forever. He will have to go to a country that does not have an extradition treaty with America, probably Russia or North Korea. Trump can set up a government in exile and pretend he is still president. Hopefully, he will take Governor Little and other GOP officials with him; they can be his cabinet in exile. What a win for us, swamp drained.
Allen L. Wenger, Boise
Justice system
The orchestrated responses from Governor Little, Senators Risch and Crapo, Congressmen Simpson and others were alarming. Although utterly lacking evidence, they nonetheless compared New York’s judicial system to a third world country; its courtrooms as politically weaponized cells and its jurors complicit in a “mock trial.”
New York City is the most diverse city in America. From this vast jury pool, both prosecutor and defendant agreed upon 12 jurors and four alternates. For five weeks, the parties engaged in a robust trial. Motions were argued, witnesses examined and decorum maintained. After due deliberation, the 12 jurors cast 408 guilty votes and 0 votes for not guilty.
Our legal system worked. In their baseless, biased condemnations, our political leaders failed us.
Ralph Sims, Eagle
Trump
So rather than show true leadership, Idaho’s government “leaders” have all basically bowed to the Trump creed (should I say, “screed”?) and used the “weaponized justice system” phrase to respond to Trump’s trial outcome. Things to consider…the jury pool was randomly chosen, the empaneled jury was screened by attorneys for both sides, the guilty verdicts had to be unanimous, Trump chose not testify (perhaps due to the threat of a perjury charge?) and Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts. This was not an impeachment trial; it was a trial in criminal court where the judge gave extraordinary leeway to the defendant’s noncompliance to a clear gag order, yet the GOP claims prejudice. Give me a break. You all need to get a spine, work on developing character and integrity and start thinking for yourselves. It will take hard work, but maybe you’ll like better what you see in the mirror each morning.
Constance Carlson, Eagle
Republicans
With nary a breath of variation in their script, Republicans have condemned the Trump hush-money verdict as a massive conspiracy by Democrats to destroy everything lovely, true, patriotic, and right about America.
Republicans look past the matter of the stealing of the 2016 election by means of illegal manipulation of business records as if that were a totally inconsequential concern. They similarly marginalize America’s jury trial system as if that were a small matter as well.
Trump recently said of possible jail time that he is “not sure the public would stand for it.” His supporters could possibly reach a “breaking point.” (Fox News, 6-2-24) This is a dog whistle signal for them to break a lot of things in protest.
This all sounds like the death rattle of a once admirable political party.
This is how ridiculously lost we are in America today.
As a convicted felon, Donald J. Trump is barred by law from owning a gun. On the other hand, he can run for President and, if he wins, put his jittery finger on the trigger of the largest gun arsenal ever assembled by mankind.
Won’t this do wonders for our criminal justice system and our national pride!
Kimball Shinkoskey, Woods Cross, Utah