'Lock him up': Legal analysts celebrate equal justice with Trump indictment
The former lead prosecutor for Robert Mueller, Andrew Weissmann, predicted that Donald Trump's indictment was coming "in days not weeks," and he was proved correct on Thursday.
His voice joined with many legal analysts who spoke out about the news. In one thread, Ryan Goodman quickly mentioned that a group of legal experts at JustSecurity outlined the specifics of the Espionage Act and how it would work with Trump.
One of the pieces of the story that Weissmann pointed out is that there are many lower-level, very young people who ultimately end up being prosecuted for mishandling classified information. It's for that reason that he felt Trump had to be indicted.
The Nation's legal analyst Elie Mystal agreed, responding to a rage tweet from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) claiming people in power shouldn't be able to prosecute their opponents, even if they broke the law.
"Actually, as I pointed out, if people in power can avoid jail by returning to power, we don’t have a republic. That’s literally how the most famous one died," said Mystal.
Legal analyst Brad Moss also commented with faux mockery: "If DOJ can indict Trump for willful retention of NDI and obstruction, they can indict ANYONE for willful retention of NDI and obstruction. The horror!"
Michigan University Law School Professor Barb McQuade cited New York Times reporting saying that the "charges include conspiracy to obstruct justice. Federal conspiracy law requires two or more people to constitute conspiracy."
She wondered, "Who is/are the co-conspirator(s)?"
Moss speculated it might be "Walt Nauta and maybe Boris are my guesses." But that information has not currently been released.
Florida attorney and attorney general candidate Daniel Uhlfelder tweeted simply: "Lock him up."
In that same vein, "Someone let Trump know the following: You’re going to prison, traitor," civil rights lawyer Andrew C. Laufer tweeted.
One of the things that Alabama University Law School Professor Joyce White Vance mentioned is the importance of cameras in the courtroom for the Trump trial.
"Chief Justice Roberts should immediately amend the rules to permit cameras in federal courts. The American public is entitled to watch the proceedings against Trump in their entirety. Anything less would be an injustice," she tweeted Thursday evening.
Watch: Trump charges help to 'preserve the rule of law in America': ex-DOJ official
Former acting solicitor general Neal Katyal took to social media on Thursday evening before speaking to MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell about the indictment of Donald Trump.
He confessed that it is a sad moment, not because it is tragic for Trump, but because "it underscores the extreme damage he has done to the institution of the presidency and country as a whole."
Katyal explained that an indictment was the only option that the Justice Department had.
"What kind of message would it send to the people who risk their lives gathering covert information if the government allows someone to behave so recklessly with our nation’s most important secrets?" Katyal asked. "These charges are not only an important step to protect our national security, but also to preserve the rule of law in America. This indictment makes it clear that no person – not even a former president – can brazenly disregard the law without consequence."
He went on to cite Donald Trump's comments on Truth Social in which he confessed he had been indicted, after saying for several days prior that he wasn't being indicted.
"Unfortunately, we can expect that he’ll spew a whole lot of lies about prosecutors and these charges in the days and weeks to come," he said. "Even though charges are an important step in the judicial process, it’s a very early one. There will be an extremely long and complex trial process ahead. Trump will cry foul and claim the courts and government are rigged against him. But make no mistake, he will be afforded the very same presumption of innocence as any other defendant in this country."
When speaking to MSNBC, Katyal went on to say that one of the most important pieces of this is to identify that "it underscores the extreme damage that Donald Trump did to the presidency and to this country as a whole."
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