Texas Scorecard by Daniel Greer | June 3, 2024
The contested conviction of President Donald Trump raises alarm bells.Last week, the presumptive Republican nominee for President, Donald J. Trump, became the highest-profile victim of lawfare in the modern political era.
Observers have since expressed that Texans are at risk, and the time for Texas to act is now.
Thursday’s outcome wasn’t surprising, but it was shocking, as evidenced by the tone and tenor of the response from the center-right compared to the left. Trump’s campaign received a windfall in support from brand-new donors. Biden did not reap a similar whirlwind.
Legal analysts from across the political spectrum took issue with Judge Juan Merchan’s actions during the trial, with many coming to the conclusion that he wasn’t primarily concerned with ensuring justice was served but securing a guilty verdict in service of derailing Trump’s presidential campaign.
Elie Honig, a former prosecutor turned legal analyst for CNN writing for the NY Magazine, called the case “an ill-conceived, unjustified mess.” He said prosecutors got their man “but contorted the law in an unprecedented manner in their quest to snare their prey.”
“In fact, no state prosecutor — in New York, or Wyoming, or anywhere — has ever charged federal election laws as a direct or predicate state crime against anyone for anything. None. Ever,” Honig added.
Even Dan Abrams, ABC’s chief legal analyst, said Alvin Bragg should never have prosecuted the case.
Then there’s Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law professor and a Democrat, who covered the trial extensively and called it a “legal canned hunt.” During the proceedings, Turley repeatedly pointed out actions Merchan took as flying in the face of legal reason, precedent, and constitutional rigor, all serving, according to Turley, as grounds for overturning the conviction on appeal.
Texans agree. “We’re [seeing] the wild west weaponization of our justice system,” said San Antonio-based activist Matt Beebe. “We’ve seen New York change their law to extend the statute of limitation to get another crack at Trump based on the decades-old claims of a political partisan. We’ve seen convictions for alleged crimes with no victims, and now a conviction for an underlying crime that didn’t exist.”
Texas’ top three public servants echoed similar thoughts. Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, and Attorney General Paxton posted resolute opposition to the verdict on social media. Patrick and Paxton both took time to attend the proceedings.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/analysis-calls-grow-for-lawmakers-to-protect-texans-from-rogue-prosecutors/
