New York prosecutors and judges are showing up their federal counterparts. It's not the first time a New York prosecutor picked up the baton when other agencies failed to pursue justice.
The legal system in New York City in the early 1930s was corrupt. Organized crime ran rampant. Officials and politicians were on the take. More than 90% of the arrests made for gambling never came to trial. The New York governor intervened and appointed Thomas Dewey as a special prosecutor.
Dewey is best remembered now as Harry Truman's stilted opponent in the 1948 presidential race. But he first won national acclaim as a "racket buster" who took on New York City gangsters in the 1930s as a special prosecutor and then Manhattan district attorney. He famously sent crime boss Lucky Luciano, who'd seemed immune to successful prosecution, off to prison for 30-50 years for committing sex crimes — running a prostitution ring.
Let's compare Dewey's work way back then to the recent prosecution of former President Donald Trump for secret payments that violated campaign finance laws.
Michael Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiring with Trump for paying off Stormy Daniels. Her story of a one-night stand with Trump would have hurt his chances of winning the 2016 presidential election.
Trump himself was not charged while in office because U.S. Department of Justice policies forbade the indictment of a sitting president. But that doesn't explain why the feds failed to move against Trump after he left office. Where's the fairness in charging the subordinate and not the boss who ordered the illegal actions?
Then Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg stepped in. He followed the example of his predecessor Tom Dewey by bringing to trial an alleged lawbreaker even when other prosecutors would not. On May 30 of this year, a unanimous jury of 12 New Yorkers found Trump guilty of falsifying records to hide information that would have influenced the 2016 presidential election.
Was Bragg indeed inspired by Dewey's example? Apparently so. Bragg recently said: "In the 1930s, District Attorney Thomas Dewey ushered in the era of the modern, independent, professional prosecutor. For now nearly 90 years dedicated professionals in this Office have built upon that fine tradition."
While Trump was found guilty in a New York state court, two federal cases against him remain mired in procedural quicksand thanks to the questionable actions of federal judges.
In the initial investigation of Trump's misappropriation of classified materials in Florida, federal Judge Aileen Cannon's rulings have dragged out the investigation and the case from the get-go. During the investigative phases, she paid deference to Trump because of the risk of "reputational harm." A federal appellate court overturned her decision, finding "the district court stepped in with its own reasoning," but the process still delayed the indictment by months. Since she was assigned to the criminal case, she's deferred the trial date and not set a new one. There's virtually no chance now for trial before this November's election.
In a District of Columbia federal court, Trump is facing charges of spreading false claims about the November 2020 presidential election, disrupting certification of President Joe Biden's victory, and seeking to "oppress, threaten and intimidate" people in their right to vote. When Trump's lawyers argued that he was immune to prosecution for these acts, the Supreme Court reached down to stop the progress of the trial. The justices could have made an immediate ruling, but they waited first for an appeals court to hear the case. That court ruled unanimously that the case could proceed. The Supreme Court then interceded and scheduled argument for the very end of its term. Justice Neil Gorsuch defended the foot-dragging by pronouncing, "We're writing a rule for the ages."
Are the federal courts unduly influenced by loyalty to Trump? Justice Gorsuch was appointed by Trump. Pro-insurrection flags flew over the home and beach house of Justice Samuel Alito. Virginia Thomas, wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, sent texts to Trump's chief of staff in November 2020 falsely claiming, "Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History." Judge Cannon, whose decisions favor delay, was nominated by Trump when he was president and confirmed by the Senate in the days after he had lost the election but before he left office.
It really doesn't matter whether the judges are in fact fair-minded. It can be reasonably argued they are not, and federal law says, "Any justice, judge or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned."
After his New York conviction, Trump said, "The real verdict is going to be November 5, by the people." He is correct. If he wins the presidency, he will appoint DOJ officials who will drop both the Florida and D.C. cases against him.
Bravo to Tom Dewey's successor Alvin Bragg who ensured Trump faced a New York state jury verdict in 2024. Shame on the judges who are enabling Trump to avoid the same consequence in federal courts.
A renaissance man, Keith Raffel has served as the senior counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee, started a successful internet software company and written five novels, which you can check out at keithraffel.com. He currently spends the academic year as a resident scholar at Harvard. To find out more about Keith and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators website at creators.com.
DIST. BY CREATORS
View Comments