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I NEVER THOUGHT there was much to the rumours and innuendo about “Russian collusion” with respect to the 2016 American presidential election.
I was not surprised when the long-awaited Mueller Report, while less than a total exoneration of Donald Trump, did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia to influence the result in favour of the 45th President of the United States.
In a similar vein, I also believe the indictment of the former commander-in-chief by a Manhattan grand jury at the behest of district attorney Alvin Bragg in connection with payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels is a clear instance of prosecutorial overreach. The theory of the case is weak and Bragg – a liberal Democrat who boasted that, as a deputy state attorney general, he had “sued the Trump administration more than 100 times” during his bid for district attorney – is motivated in large part by political considerations. As an aside, it is bizarre that the US elects prosecutors.
I only reiterate my own analysis, which has drawn the ire of some on the left, in anticipation of criticism that my view of the latest indictment of the top-ranked GOP contestant to take on President Joe Biden is tainted irretrievably by ideological bias. I guarantee you that it is not.
In my estimation, the three counts of conspiracy and one count of obstruction contained in the 45-page document we got sight of this week are very different. The indictment is an equally stunning and disturbing read.
Sagely, it concedes that Trump “had a right, like every American, to speak publicly regarding the election and even to claim, falsely, that there had been outcome-determinative fraud during the election and that he had won” and that he was “entitled to formally challenge the results of the election through lawful and appropriate means.”
And shrewdly, the indictment centres on what Trump, as well as unnamed co-conspirators acting on his behalf, did and said prior to the events on January 6th, not his remarks to a riled up crowd of fervent backers in Washington, DC that morning. If it had been mainly predicated on the latter, the near blanket protection on speech conferred by the 1st Amendment would ultimately be core to a quite possibly successful defence.
Instead, the indictment records in painstaking detail the conduct of the then-president and the six co-conspirators after Election Day, 3 November 2020. Initially, it is contended persuasively that Trump and the co-conspirators knew that their arguments that the election had been stolen were false. For Trump had been told that he lost by his vice president, Mike Pence, the Justice Department, the Director of National Intelligence, the Department of Homeland Security, senior White House attorneys and staffers and elected and appointed legislators and officials who were allied to Trump.
In short, anyone who retains an iota of credibility apprised him of the unfortunate reality: Joe Biden won the race. A Deputy White House Counsel put it bluntly in December 2020: “there is no world, there is no option in which you do not leave the White House on January 20th (2021).”
Undaunted, however, Trump and his close acolytes sought to subvert the will of the people and damage American democracy and its crucial organs in the process.
The indictment describes their efforts in Georgia, in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Nevada, in Arizona and in Wisconsin to turn losses into wins. Dead women and men had cast ballots. There were more votes than there were voters. There had been “vote dumps” and machines were corrupted. Tens of thousands of non-citizens had voted.
Despite there being not one shred of evidence to substantiate these ludicrous accusations and the co-conspirators’ knowing them to be false, they leaned heavily on prominent politicians and other figures, lots of whom had endorsed Trump, to do their bidding.
The then-president himself pressured Justice Department personnel and Mike Pence, his theretofore faithful number two in the executive branch, to do likewise.
In sum, and allowing for the fact that there is little information in it that wasn’t already in the public domain, this indictment is explosive. Of the litany of harsh condemnations of Donald Trump’s behaviour I have come across over decades, first as a wealthy private citizen and subsequently as an atypical world leader, it is, to me, the most chilling.
Of course, Donald Trump’s high-priced litigators will raise myriad legal defences of varying merit. Since their client is deeply unpopular in the capital city and may consequently be unable to get a fair trial, they will urge a change of venue.
They will assert that the relevant federal statutes are too vague and that the legislative intent behind them was not to penalise what Trump and the co-conspirators are declared to have done. Accordingly, they are inapplicable.
They may posit that Trump was merely following the guidance of counsel; specifically, he was adhering to law professor John Eastman’s advice that Pence could reject slates of electors from states where voter fraud was alleged. The 1st Amendment will be invoked, as will the proposition that a president should stay immune from being charged criminally for what he may have done when in office.
The lawyers will dispute that Trump knew his suspicion of electoral malfeasance in multiple states was false. Legal wrangling will transpire in court in the months and years ahead. If precedent is any dictate, Trump will endeavour to extend this and all of the other proceedings ad infinitum. For now, in front of the court of public opinion, he will continue to repeat that this is election interference, that he is a victim of persecution, that the Department of Justice has been weaponised by liberal Democrats and President Biden and that “deranged Jack Smith” will not rest until he gets him.
Sadly, as polling has invariably shown, Trump’s massive base of die-hard supporters will nod and cheer in complete agreement. They will not be moved, no matter what. Truth be damned. “What about Hunter?” is their defiant reply.
Even more sadly, judging by the failure to date of Ron DeSantis and other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination to catch fire, plenty of grassroots conservatives aren’t necessarily Trump fanatics, yet are gravitating to him because they have some degree of sympathy for the beleaguered billionaire.
I’ve been asked on several occasions to explain how it feels that politics in the US – and the American project more broadly, for that is what it still is – has reached this unfathomably low ebb. With all that we know about Donald Trump and all the legal peril he is in, how could a vast swathe of Americans be prepared to once again entrust such a manifestly deficient human being with the presidency?
I won’t attempt to answer these questions here. Suffice it to say that we are where we are, and it is not a good place.
Larry Donnelly is a Boston lawyer, a Law Lecturer at the University of Galway and a political columnist with TheJournal.ie.
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Yahoo opened a new office next to the Gibson hotel in the docklands. Dublin seems to be booming again. Good news for the country.
They were actually already in the east point business park, just move across the road really. Verizon are opening a new global procurement centre in East Point, looking to hire 180 people.
Why is this building so low rise? have DCC learned nothing?
I read they’re keeping the office at East Point. The new office block at the Point is to house these 200 new jobs. The company is relocating most of its business to Dublin from London.
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/careers/item/31957-yahoo-to-create-more-than
The first comment no this article was as expected, a negative sniping one, typical of the ‘knocking’ culture in Ireland.
This one always comes to mind. “The Irish don’t know what they want and are prepared to fight to the death to get it.”
I like knockers.
Me too. But only nice knockers ;)
Only a Shinner type dimwit is unhappy with good news. They are a depressing lot.
I’m a Sinn Fein supporter and I welcome this. As we’ve seen recently Sinn Fein are the best of all parties at persuading Americans to part with their money. Is that what we need in Ireland Inc?
There was another article about large companies not coming to Dublin due to lack of office space. With Microsoft vacating 3 buildings this could alleviate some of that problem, admittedly the sites are not city centre but do have good connections into town.
They are likely already let out. Not much high quality space like that available.
What needs to happen is for the offices Cherrywood to get built quicker. It’s 5 minutes further down the M50, directly onto the N11 into town, has two luas stops and it’s not far from nice housing like Foxrock or Dalkey.
That site has been bought so hopefully some move towards the end of the year…..also plans for up to three thousand (hopefully reasonably priced) houses!
Hope on scottie! Reasonably priced houses in Ireland? Lol! There is a ton more room for development in Sandyford and Stillorgan business parks, the buildings Microsoft are leaving are large high quality ones, they’ll be let in no time. There is plenty of room left for apartment development in Sandyford too. It really was a great facility they built around the beacon. Lived there for 18 months. Every shop you need on your doorstep, excellent transport, decent quality construction, energy efficient apartments. Pity there wasn’t more built like it at the time. A very sustainable development. There’s shop for that area still though. As with cherry wood. The luas makes all the difference to these places. Great news from Microsoft. Great for the country, a vote of confidence to invest so much.
We can but hope! I work in the area and agree…sandyford has most of what u need but it always feels like a ghost town after office hours up there….a sort of concrete jungle with no atmosphere. Site opposite the south quarter has recently been bought, down from microsofts current place…so plenty of potential for res units there!
Well done Microsoft, IDA and Ireland. A great vote of confidence in the competence of the Irish.
Always good to see job creation. But will multinationals bring decent paying jobs? Will these jobs stop brain drain of Irish graduates?
I have enjoyed how the name of Sandyford industrial estate has changed to become more fashionable over the years.
Is it a innovation park now?
Decent place for a business though, a proper cluster of companies in the area, excellent transport links, decent public transport and lots of nice houses nearby. Bit dull as a place to live but that’s about the worst of it.
I wonder how many new jobs and opportunities Enda has to announce and get his picture in until people start thinking that he’s actually doing a very good job?
This was announced already, last year.
If anyone works in the area, things are going to get interesting with this & the redevelopment of the roundabout junction at Leopardstown road/Brewery Road!
I thought it was handled well with the Luas bridge. The traffic isn’t as bad as it used to be.
Is it done?
(I haven’t worked there for a few months)
The roundabout will be removed and replaced by a box junction.
Not before time Business Cat. They did add a little side road near Bewley, down the back of woodies that brings you to the business Park when coming from the m50 roundabout, that cuts out the need to go down to the leopardstown RA, but last time I was using it frequently people didn’t seem to know about it and we’re using the RA still. It takes a good few mins out of it at peak times tbh.
Great, more people paying taxes, to fund my welfare benefits!
Cool. Seventy five construction jobs per annum for two years. Any chance of a national holiday?
Sheik,
By there very nature construction jobs tend not to be forever, once the building is finished so are the jobs.
There’s one of those the week after next.
Sheik has a valid point. This isn’t going to create long term employment in the IT sector.
Best not bother then.
Sorry Microsoft, build your office somewhere else!
Isn’t it better than nothing?
@Sheik Yahbouti,
Most of those construction jobs will be done by Eastern Europeans, working for a pittance.
This building is horrible. They have cut down lots of the trees that boarder the Leopardstown race course grounds making a nice park-like area thar bit more concrete
Christ… Is there anything yee wont p!ss & moan about!
Sinead,
“This building is horrible”
Ht building they haven’t even dug the foundations yet.
Well it will have windows i guess ?
That was so bad it was good…
This was made public over 6 months ago.
http://www.thejournal.ie/microsoft-go-ahead-dun-laoghaire-campus-1606576-Aug2014/
Anyway it’s very good news to see them making a commitment like this!
It’s only going to create temporary employment in the building trade.
Yes how true, and it is a solid investment in the permanent Jobs already in place.
So temporary jobs now.
Job security for those currently at Microsoft.
And a good signal to other companies that Ireland is a place they choose to invest in.
There jobs were never at risk.
Microsoft has been here already for years.
Dell was here for years. Also, is there such a thing as a permanent construction job?
Every job in construction is temporary. You can’t build something forever.
Dont tell “Bob” that
Great news. The only pity is to see all these IT companies out on greenfield sites when it would be much better to have them all close together in high rise office buildings.
Every job announcement the FG fan boys start to congratulate themselves,why do you have to type it when you can just reach across the desk and lick each other’s balls .
Epdc-5 was supposed to be the consolidated building for the atrium 12 years. Things quickly grew beyond that plan keeping the atrium in use. Also Google did not coin the work hard play hard tech attitude. Plenty of companies did that here long before Google even existed.
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