Good Chance Trump May Be Found 'Willfully Blind'

 Professor Burt Neuborne’s argument, that former president Donald Trump cannot escape criminal liability even if he somehow believes he won the 2020 election when the established facts conclusively prove otherwise, is legally sound. However, Prof. Neuborne overlooks an even stronger basis for holding Mr.Trump accountable notwithstanding his delusional belief. A person who believes, even rationally, that he has been wronged cannot take criminal measures as a remedy. So, someone who honestly believes that his bank owes him money cannot with impunity withdraw money at gunpoint to make himself whole. Trump’s attempt to use fake electors and to coerce Vice President Pence to violate the Constitution were criminal acts which are legally punishable.

Prosecution of Trump May Have Terrible Consequences

 

Though Prof. Jack Goldsmith justly condemns Donald Trump’s “election shenanigans “, the thrust of his essay mistakenly conveys the notion that the cost of the remedy outweighs the harm of turning a blind eye to Mr. Trump’s assault on our democracy.
The fallout forecast by Prof. Goldsmith, from prosecuting Mr. Trump, such as the future politicization of the Justice System and erosion of respect for the rule of law, indeed, poses a grave risk. But the consequences of ignoring Mr. Trump’s attempted coup will have the immediate effect of green lighting attempts to overturn elections based on false claims of fraud.
The problem is exacerbated not by missteps of the Department of Justice, which occurred, but by Trump’s racial attacks on prosecutors and judges which appeal to the underlying bias infecting a majority of his implacable base.