OPINION:
A former president is on trial in a criminal case for the first time ever. Opening arguments will likely begin Monday, and based on the actions of the presiding magistrate, Donald Trump will be convicted.
Mr. Trump is not accused of taking $1 million to represent the “spy chief of China.” He didn’t smash evidence with a hammer or erase top-secret emails with BleachBit. He didn’t leave cocaine behind in the White House library.
No, Mr. Trump was indicted on a charge of improperly labeling a legal payment in his business ledger as a “legal expense.”
Judge Juan Merchan said in his official summary of the matter that the mislabeling was intended to influence the 2016 election. Doing so apparently converts an accounting misdemeanor from eight years ago — well beyond the statute of limitations — into a felony election law violation on the eve of an election. Don’t ask him why this isn’t being heard in federal court.
Nothing will persuade Judge Merchan to let go of his one opportunity to bask in the spotlight. If corruptly influencing an election is a felony, his honor is the one who deserves to be sent up the river.
Judge Merchan insisted Mr. Trump attend every day of the proceedings, without exception. “If you do not show up, there will be an arrest,” he thundered. So, Mr. Trump won’t be allowed to attend his son Barron’s high school graduation. He can’t even skip out for a few hours to attend next Thursday’s Supreme Court hearing on his presidential immunity argument — a particularly relevant topic.
A major presidential candidate is prohibited from campaigning for up to two months — and that’s all by design. For the brief moments Mr. Trump is allowed outside the courthouse, he remains under a gag order restricting his constitutional right to highlight the charade happening within its walls.
The prosecution’s chief witness is Michael Cohen, who perjured himself just last month. According to a federal judge, “it is perverse to cite the testimony” Mr. Cohen gave in another case. Mr. Cohen has a large podcast platform he uses to attack the former president twice a week.
The other star witness, adult film actress Stormy Daniels, released a two-hour documentary attacking Mr. Trump just in time to influence the jury pool. Judge Merchan imposes no restrictions on her or Mr. Cohen. His gag order is one-sided — as all of his rulings have been.
That’s not surprising for a jurist who donated to President Biden’s campaign and whose daughter uses the ongoing trial as fodder for a multimillion-dollar Democratic fundraising effort. The judge sees no conflict of interest in any of this, just as he sees no merit in any objection made by the defense team. He refused to turn away jurors whose Facebook posts displayed clear animus against the GOP candidate.
The prosecution, by contrast, has its every wish granted. This includes allowing prosecutors to bring up irrelevant nonsense such as evidence that Mr. Trump once cited a tabloid story suggesting the father of Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, was part of the plot to assassinate John F. Kennedy. It was an obvious joke, and Mr. Cruz plays along with it to this day.
What’s not a joke is hijacking the legal system to cripple a presidential candidate. The only hope — and it’s a slim one — is that a brave New York City juror will realize what this is doing to our republic and stand up against this injustice.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.